OR  SCH 
IN  WAR  TIME 
AND  AFTER 

DEAN 


j<oo«s' 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 

Dr.   ERNEST   C.   MOORE 


OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR 
TIME-AND  AFTER 


ARTHUR  D.  DEAN,  Sc.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION,  TEACHERS  COLLEGE 

COLUMBIA    UNIVERSITY,  AND    SUPERVISING    OFFICER 

BUREAU  OF  VOCATIONAL  TRAINING,  NEW  YORK 

STATE  MILITARY  TRAINING   COMMISSION 


GINN  AND  COMPANY 

BOSTON     •     NEW   YORK     •     CHICAGO     •     LONDON 
ATLANTA     •    DALLAS     •    COLUMBUS     •    SAN   FRANCISCO 


COPYRIGHT,  1918,  BY  ARTHUR  D.  DEAN 
ALL  RIGHTS   RESERVED 


GINN  AND  COMPANY  •  PRO- 
PRIETORS •  BOSTON  •  U.S.A. 


FOREWORD 

It  is  not  an  army  that  we  must  shape  and  train  for  war ; 
it  is  a  nation.  .  .  .  The  whole  nation  must  be  a  team  in  which 
each  man  shall  play  the  part  for  which  he  is  best  fitted.  .  .  . 
Each  man  shall  be  classified  for  service  in  the  place  to 
which  it  shall  best  serve  the  general  good  to  call  him.  .  .  . 
The  significance  of  this  cannot  be  overstated.  It  is  a  new 
thing  in  our  history  and  a  landmark  in  our  progress.  It  is 
a  new  manner  of  accepting  and  vitalizing  our  duty  to  give 
ourselves  with  thoughtful  devotion  to  the  common  purpose  of 
us  all. —  WooDROW  Wilson,  Proclamation,  May  l8,  igiy 


215144 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Bringing  the  War  into  the  Schools    ....  i 

II.  War  and  Community  Uses  of  our  Schools     .     .  17 

III.  The  Field  for  Industrial  and  Trade  Schools  .  53 

IV.  Our  Colleges  and  Technical  Institutes  ...  80 

V.  The  Opportunity  for  Manual  and  Household 

Arts 115 

VI.  The  Work  Impulses  of  Youth 135 

VII.  Organized  Boy  Power  vs.  Military  Drill     .     .  165 

VIII.  Red  Cross  and  Other  Community  Work  .     .     .  192 

IX.  Reeducation  of  the  Disabled 211 

X.  Farm  Cadets 234 

XI.  The  Organization  of  a  Cadet  Camp     .     .     .     .  272 

XII.  A  Summarized  Program  of  Action 304 

INDEX 33^ 


OUR   SCHOOLS    IN   WAR  TIME  — 
AND  AFTER 


OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME- 
AND  AFTER 

CHAPTER  I 

BRINGING  THE  WAR  INTO  THE  SCHOOLS 

The  summer  of  191 7  found  America  realizing 
that  the  war  which  it  had  entered  was  not  going  to 
be  won  by  the  mobiHzation  of  an  army  and  a  navy, 
however  strong  and  efficient  they  might  be.  In  the 
proclamation  of  Woodrow  Wilson  the  whole  nation 
was  called  upon  to  mobilize  with  a  clear,  succinct 
purpose  of  organizing  those  forces  of  industry,  of 
education,  of  woman  power,  which  are  back  of  every 
successful  struggle  of  a  nation  in  peace  or  in  war. 
The  ready  acceptance  of  the  slogan  "  Win  the  War 
in  the  Air,"  with  the  public  clamor  for  aviation,  was 
but  an  indication  of  the  general  awakening  of  the 
public  to  the  truth  that  the  war  must  be  won  by 
the  use  of  forces  as  yet  undeveloped,  or  undirected 
towards  national  ends. 

The  mobilization  which  teaches  the  saving  of 
our  national  resources,  which  directs  the  thoughtful 
distribution  and  wise  use  of  our  products,  which 


2  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

cultivates  the  patriotic  spirit  of  service  in  the  boy 
and  girl  power  of  the  nation,  properly  belongs  to 
the  field  of  education,  not  only  in  war  but  in  peace. 
To  the  schools  of  America,  therefore,  the  war  has 
come  as  an  opportunity  for  developing  a  closer  re- 
lation between  education  and  life,  between  life  and 
service. 

Our  gradual  entrance  into  the  war  and  our  dis- 
tance from  the  conflict  have  given  us  the  chance 
of  pausing  and  surveying  the  situation  before  act- 
ing,—  advantages  which  were  unfortunately  denied 
England  and  France.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war 
England  apparently  almost  wrecked  her  schools, 
and  is  slowly  repairing  the  mistakes  of  hurried 
action  in  suspending  the  attendance  laws.  France 
is  saving  her  schools  that  the  nation  may  go  on 
after  the  war.  It  remains  for  America  to  use  the 
war  to  m.ake  better  schools. 

The  mobilization  of  our  schools  is  not  concerned 
with  the  introduction  of  military  drill,  whether  vol- 
untary or  compulsory.  It  is  an  experiment  in  work- 
ing out  the  relation  of  education  to  war.  We  are, 
all  of  us,  empirics  in  this  experiment;  there  is  no 
body  of  tradition  and  theory  to  help  us.  The  an- 
cient world  offers  us  no  parallels ;  the  modern  Ger- 
man system  throws  no  light  on  it.  America,  equally 
with  the  nations  of  the  older  world,  is  a  pioneer  in 


BRINGING  THE  WAR  INTO  SCHOOLS        3 

the  field.  This  is  a  novel  experience  for  us  who 
have  been  originators  only  of  free  education  in  the 
past  or  of  administrative  systems,  not  of  types  of 
new  education.  Largely  what  we  have  to  guide  us 
is  some  experience  of  France  and  England  in  what 
to  avoid.  This  negative  counsel  is  valuable  in  re- 
stricting our  experiments,  but  is  scarcely  construc- 
tive in  its  nature.  One  of  its  most  valuable  lessons, 
however,  is  to  show  us  that  we  must  not  take  our 
schools  into  the  war,  as  England  did,  but  bring  the 
war  into  the  schools. 

The  fact  that  the  problem  is  a  novel  one  and 
that  it  is  experimental  does  not  make  it  futile.  All 
education  is  experimental  in  adapting  the  individual 
to  his  changing  environment. 

During  recent  years  our  schools  have  had  to 
consider  the  outside  forces  of  the  changing  world. 
It  was  in  1881  that  the  first  manual-training  high 
school  opened  its  doors  under  the  hostile  gaze  of 
incredulity  and  disapproval.  Since  then  our  edu- 
cational system  has  been  bombarded  with  essays 
on  the  relation  of  education  to  life,  on  practical 
aspects  of  education,  on  vocational  guidance,  on 
trade  schools,  etc.  We  have  only  to  look  at  the 
vastly  differentiated  courses  of  our  colleges  (some 
of  which  have  lost  all  trace  of  the  humanities),  at 
the  variegated  courses  in  our  high  schools,  at  our 


4  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

remodeled  elementary  courses,  to  realize  that  in 
thirty  years  the  whole  attitude  of  the  people  towards 
our  schools  has  undergone  a  vast  change.  These 
changes  were  regarded  as  revolutionary  at  first. 
But  it  is  no  more  revolutionary  to  introduce  the 
war  into  our  schools  than  it  was  to  introduce  the 
laboratory  study  of  sciences,  or  agricultural  studies, 
or  courses  in  millinery  and  home-making,  —  that 
is,  if  we  understand  the  meaning  of  war  into  the 
schools. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  educational  em- 
phasis is  different.  The  student  who  takes  an  agri- 
cultural course,  and  thus  prepares  himself  to  be  a 
modern  efficient  farmer,  is  only  indirectly  doing 
work  of  service  to  the  State.  His  aim  is  individual 
improvement,  an  advance  which  results  in  gen- 
eral benefit  to  the  State ;  whereas  a  girl  who  does 
Red  Cross  work  in  school,  or  a  boy  who  works  in 
a  war  garden,  benefits  the  individual  through  the 
larger  service  of  collective  responsibility  in  serving 
the  nation  directly. 

We  are  not  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  war  is  a 
temporary  condition,  and  we  must  not  crowd  out 
the  fundamental  studies  to  meet  the  needs  of  a 
temporary  environment,  however  urgent  the  need 
may  be.  In  carrying  the  war  into  our  schools  we 
must  emphasize   those  permanent   elements  which 


BRINGING  THE  WAR  INTO  SCHOOLS        5 

are  as  necessary  in  war  as  in  peace;  we  must  use 
the  war  as  an  opportunity  to  develop  service  to  the 
State,  —  service  which  may  be  vitahzing  and  enno- 
bHng,  full  of  purposeful  appreciation  of  collective 
responsibility. 

In  our  study  of  the  introduction  of  the  war  into 
our  schools  we  may  properly  shut  out  discussions 
of  elements  which  have  no  educational  value.  Many 
of  the  proposals  for  the  war  uses  of  our  schools 
have  been  of  a  haphazard  nature,  called  out  by  a 
well-meant  desire  to  meet  the  emergency.  Much 
of  the  legislation  concerning  itself  with  the  employ- 
ment of  school  children  or  of  those  under  compul- 
sory school  age  has  been,  and  may  yet  be,  harmful. 
The  suggestion  of  using  the  schools  as  recruiting 
stations  has  lost  value  with  the  operation  of  the 
selective  draft.  Ill-considered  proposals  to  turn 
over  the  vocational  and  manual-training  depart- 
ments to  the  government  for  the  purpose  of  making 
munitions  have  shown  a  lack  of  knowledge  of  their 
meager  equipment  for  an  industry  highly  special- 
ized with  standard  jigs  and  fixtures.  A  department 
store,  a  clothing  factory,  a  library,  or  an  office 
building  would  be  about  as  fit  for  such  a  purpose 
as  a  school  building.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the 
use  of  our  schools  as  hospitals.  Our  schools  must 
be  retained  as  educative  plants,  —  training  munition 


6  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

workers,  if  we  will,  but  not  making  munitions ;  pro- 
viding the  government  with  skilled  artisans  and 
scientists,  but  by  no  means  converting  their  func- 
tion of  education  into  that  of  industrial  production. 

The  war  work  of  our  schools  is  more  easily 
planned  in  those  which  have  technical  and  voca- 
tional departments  than  in  those  which  contain 
only  the  desk  and  office  equipment.  Distinctions 
must  be  made,  too,  between  schools  in  agricultural 
and  industrial  centers.  The  experiments  made  in 
New  York  with  "farm  cadets"  show  that  the  coun- 
try boy  has  certain  advantages  over  the  city  boy 
in  all  forms  of  rural  and  garden  employment. 
We  must  not  expect  the  same  kind  of  work  from 
the  high-school  boys  and  girls  in  New  York  City 
that  we  may  exact  from  country  children  of  the 
same  age. 

The  city  boy  may  be  needed  in  emergency  ofHce 
and  factory  work.  Instead  of  contributing  service 
as  a  farm  cadet,  he  may  become  a  "  cooperator," 
giving  part-time  service  to  industry  and  to  com- 
merce and  part  time  to  school,  as  many  of  our 
city  boys  are  now  doing. 

In  dealing  with  the  institution  of  higher  grade 
we  find  as  many  distinctions  in  service.  In  the 
college  of  the  cultural  type  —  the  college  of  indi- 
vidualism—  it    is   the    individual    who    serves    the 


BRINGING  THE  WAR  INTO  SCHOOLS        7 

State,  how  nobly  may  be  seen  in  the  English  uni- 
versities of  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  In  the  public 
schools  and  socialized  institutions  with  vocational 
work,  however,  it  is  the  institution  which  serves. 
This  service  of  the  institution  may  be  classified 
under  two  heads.  In  the  case  of  the  elementary 
schools  to  some  extent,  and  of  the  high  schools 
to  a  greater  extent,  our  war  work  should  be 
brought  into  them.  In  the  technical,  vocational, 
and  trade  schools  the  institution  should  reach  out 
towards  the  war.  In  the  first  instance  the  func- 
tion of  the  elementary  and  secondary  school 
should  be  to  adhere  to  the  purposes  for  which 
they  were  created.  The  function  of  the  higher 
technical,  vocational,  and  trade  schools  should  be 
to  prepare  the  skilled  students  to  take  the  places 
of  those  who  are  called  to  military  service;  to 
give  scientific  training,  indispensable  in  war;  to 
assist,  through  courses  for  the  blind  and  crippled, 
in  the  reeducation  of  those  disabled  in  war  serv- 
ice,—  that  is,  our  technical  schools  may  be  schools 
of  special  preparation  and  industrial  readjustment. 
We  shall  observe,  in  working  out  the  problem, 
that  we  have  offered  to  us  by  the  war  an  oppor- 
tunity to  make  our  schools  better  by  bringing 
education  closer  to  life,  not  only  materially  but 
spiritually.     If  we   have  failed   to   train   our  youth 


8  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

in  cooperation  and  service  to  the  State  in  the 
past,  the  war  gives  us  a  new  motive.  For  to 
impart  skill  in  use  of  hand  or  brain  without 
teaching  collective  responsibility  is  to  fail  in  our 
national  duty.  To  our  schools  we  must  look  as 
the  agencies  which  are  to  carry  on  the  great 
work  of  education  in  service,  a  noble  and  pur- 
poseful objective  for  which  to  work,  directing 
the  growth  of  our  children  into  an  efficient  and 
devoted  citizenship. 

Someone  will  urge:  "The  war  will  soon  be  over 
and  we  shall  hardly  get  started  in  war  service 
before  there  will  be   no  need  for  such  service." 

Of  course  those  who  believe,  or  at  least  seem 
to  practice  the  belief,  that  the  schools  are  to  lag 
far  behind  every  economic,  industrial,  and  social 
movement  and  are  to  be  mere  looking-glasses  for 
the  workaday  world,  —  such  people  would  not  be 
expected  to  bring  the  war  into  the  schools  until 
some  historian  had  written  a  text  setting  forth  the 
dates,  drawing  the  battle  lines,  naming  the  com- 
manding generals,  and  picturing  the  final  bound- 
aries determined  by  some  Hague  conference.  It 
is  such  professional  obstructionists  who  make  no 
provision  for  the  millions  of  our  foreign  born  to 
learn  the  English  language  and  American  customs 
through   the    establishment  of   up-to-date  methods 


BRINGING  THE  WAR  INTO  SCHOOLS        9 

in  teaching  the  adult  ilHterate.  It  is  such  laissez- 
faire  persons  who  allow  children  to  slide  out  of 
school  unprepared  physically,  mentally,  or  vocation- 
ally for  the  life  ahead.  It  is  such  who  insist  upon 
the  disciplinary-value  idea  of  subject-worth  in  the 
face  of  modern  psychological  thought.  It  is  such 
conservatives  who  say  that  agriculture  can  be 
taught  only  on  the  farm;  that  it  is  the  business 
of  the  factory  to  teach  the  trades;  that  girls  may 
learn  to  cook  from  their  mothers ;  that  elementary 
courses  in  woodworking  and  freehand  drawing 
constitute  vocational  training;  that  algebra,  Latin, 
ancient  history,  and  trigonometry  are  essential 
features  of  the  curriculum  for  training  capable 
stenographers.  It  is  these  people  who  say  that 
"  the  public  schools  of  America  are  bulwarks  of 
the  nation,"  and  consistently  erect  bulwarks  against 
every  agency  which  actually  reflects  the  social  and 
economic  needs  of  the  day. 

But  those  who  believe  that  the  school  should 
study  the  past  and  live  in  the  present  and  strive 
for  a  better  future  will  find  that  the  war  brings 
out  for  the  schools  not  only  the  lessons  of  a  day, 
but  the  needs  and  opportunities  of  a  decade. 

It  has  been  stated  that  movements  or  men 
unresponsive  to  the  present  world  crisis  and  fail- 
ing to   meet  present   needs   and   opportunities   do 


lo  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

not  deserve  to  exist.  Whether  the  statement  be 
exactly  true  or  not,  it  is  evident  that  the  up-to-the- 
minute  man  or  the  live  school  or  the  progressive 
industrial  establishment  or  the  efficient  department 
of  government  is  responding  to  the  national  need 
in  exact  proportion  to  the  response  made  to  the 
needs  and  opportunities  existing  before  war  was 
declared. 

It  is  this  responding  power  which  is  testing 
our  men  and  women,  our  institutions  of  govern- 
ment, our  industries,  and  our  schools.  Nothing 
makes  this  clearer  than  the  daily  news.  We  read 
that  since  the  Railroads  War  Board  has  been  estab- 
lished, the  railroads  have  increased  their  operating 
efficiency  26  per  cent,  with  the  result  that  they  are 
now  handling  twice  the  freight  and  have  75  per 
cent  fewer  idle  cars ;  that  aeroplane  motors  are 
soon  to  be  built  as  rapidly  as  a  certain  well-known 
automobile  can  be ;  that  standardized  destroyers 
and  merchant  ships  are  to  be  turned  out  by  the 
scores;  that  dyes  equal  to  those  formerly  imported 
have  been  evolved ;  that  prominent  men  of  means 
have  contributed  their  services  to  men  in  authority 
in  Washington ;  that  well-known  social  workers  are 
on  their  way  to  France  and  Belgium. 

All  these  things  and  countless  others  show  us 
how  a  military  necessity  has  brought  out  the  best 


BRINGING  THE  WAR  INTO  SCHOOLS       1 1 

that  is  within  us.  And  the  best  of  it  all  is  that 
there  is  nothing  which  we  are  doing  in  the  way 
of  making  standardized  products  or  in  extending 
the  services  of  useful  men  that  cannot  be  perma- 
nently useful  after  the  war  is  over.  Our  mili- 
tary necessity  is  teaching  us  new  and  permanently 
effective  standards  of  making  things.  Meanwhile, 
are  the  schools  of  America  to  fail  by  not  render- 
ing service  to  a  nation  in  time  of  need,  by  not 
establishing  permanently  effective  standards  in  the 
making  of  useful  boys  and  girls,  —  "boys  and  girls," 
as  Roosevelt  puts  it,  "who  realize  that  they  are 
a  part  of  Uncle  Sam's  team"  ? 

The  schools  and  colleges  that  were  alive  before 
the  war  began  are  breathing  the  breath  of  life  more 
deeply  now.  Those  which  were  asleep  are  waking 
up  and  not  only  learning  to  serve,  but  through 
this  service  learning  to  live.  A  little  school  in 
Vermont  in  a  report  on  what  it  has  in  the  way  of 
war  equipment  states  that  it  has  only  ten  benches, 
but  adds  that  these  have  been  used  by  sixty  boys 
who  take  manual  training.  A  school  system  which 
can  be  as  efficient  as  that  in  time  of  peace  may 
naturally  be  expected  to  state,  as  it  does  in  re- 
sponse to  a  recent  inquiry:  "Our  instructor  has 
been  on  the  job  all  summer,  helping  especially 
where    the    boys    and    girls    are    working    on    the 


12  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

farms  or  have  gardens.  He  has  also  organized 
canning  and  drying  clubs  and  is  giving  instruction 
to  different  groups  of  boys." 

The  university  which  has  extension  courses  in 
time  of  peace  naturally  has  war  extension  courses. 
The  prominent  business  man  of  Massachusetts  who 
for  years  interested  himself  in  state  Y.  M.C.A. 
work  would  naturally  be  expected  to  enlist,  as  he 
has,  for  Y. M.C.A.  work  in  France.  Now  if  the 
college  or  institution  or  individual  serves  in  time 
of  need  because  of  a  habit  of  serving,  might  it 
not  be  equally  true  that  a  somnolent  individual  or 
school,  if  once  stirred  to  service,  might  through 
such  service  learn  always  to  serve? 

At  this  time  the  government  of  the  United 
States  is  going  to  learn  how  to  become  efificient. 
The  state  colleges  of  agriculture  are  testing  their 
former  efificiency,  —  the  test  being  the  power  to 
serve.  Schools  may  now  learn  what  it  means  to  be 
eflficient  by  the  service  which  they  may  now  ren- 
der. Not  an  activity  is  proposed  nor  a  principle 
of  educational  practice  given  in  the  chapters  which 
follow  but  should  be  brought  into  our  schools  in 
times  of  peace. 

We  are  going  to  sew  now  for  the  Red  Cross 
because  it  is  war  time.  Later  we  shall  sew  for 
institutions  in  our  community.    Now  we  are  going 


BRINGING  THE  WAR  INTO  SCHOOLS      13 

to  develop  part-time  schools  because  industry  needs 
boys.  Later  we  shall  have  cooperative  courses  be- 
cause boys  at  work  need  further  schooling.  Now 
we  are  placing  city  boys  on  farms  because  the 
farmers  need  labor.  Later  we  shall  place  farms 
on  the  minds  of  boys  because  youth  needs  con- 
tact with  nature.  Now  we  have  current-events  dis- 
cussions about  loans,  submarines,  aeroplanes,  and 
I.W.  W.'s  because  the  government  needs  support. 
Later  we  shall  teach  the  meaning  of  the  same 
things  because  thoughtfully  trained  people  are 
needed  by  the  government.  Now  we  are  to  teach 
patriotism  and  thrift  because  the  nation  needs 
them.  Later  we  shall  teach  them  because  they 
are  essential  in  themselves. 

Now  we  have  extension  courses  in  economical 
cooking  for  adult  women  as  a  war  measure.  Later 
we  shall  have  it  as  a  home  measure.  Now  we  are 
bringing  adult  women  into  the  schools  to  receive 
instruction  with  their  children.  Later  we  shall 
do  the  same  thing  because  it  is  the  only  sensible 
procedure  under  any  and  all  conditions.  Now 
we  think  in  terms  of  reeducation  of  disabled  sol- 
diers because  of  the  immediate  need  of  helping 
these  honored  men.  Later  we  shall  turn  what  we 
have  learned  to  do  for  these  men  into  better  pro- 
visions   for    making    self-supporting    our    crippled 


14  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

and  blinded  children  who  are  now  in  dependent 
institutions  being  made  still  more  dependent  by 
the  very  nature  of  the  poor  apology  for  voca- 
tional training  which  is  given  them.  Now  we  have 
clearly  before  us  the  need  for  industrial  education 
because  the  government  is  crying  for  workers. 
Later  we  shall  see  the  need  for  industrial  educa- 
tion because  those  who  are  to  work  in  the  in- 
dustries need  it.  Now  we  hold  a  child-labor  law 
before  youth  tempted  by  industry.  Later  we  shall 
endeavor  to  hold  before  youth  better  opportunities 
for  vocational,  physical,  and  mental  training  in  our 
schools  as  an  inducement  to   stay  in  them. 

What  are  the  schools  and  colleges  going  to  do 
about  it  all  ?  Certainly  they  will  not  intentionally  in- 
jure the  cause  of  education  by  starting  ill-developed 
ideas  of  war  service.  But  the  desire  to  avoid 
the  bad  should  not  by  any  means  imply  inaction. 
This  is  the  psychological  moment  for  all  of  us 
to  justify  our  very  existence  as  individuals  or  as 
parts  of  an  institution  or  a  movement.  One  could 
only  pity  a  school  man  who  recently  said :  "  Really, 
I  am  envious  of  some  of  my  colleagues.  They 
have  something  to  do  at  this  time,  while  the  subject 
which  I  am  teaching  can   make   no   contribution." 

There  has  never  been  a  time  in  our  school  life 
when  taxpayers,  boards  of  apportionment,  women's 


BRINGING  THE  WAR  INTO  SCHOOLS      15 

clubs,  state  granges,  boards  of  trade,  could  be 
made  more  interested  in  having  the  schools  broaden 
out  along  lines  of  continuation-school  and  part-time 
work,  differentiated  courses  in  our  high  schools, 
physical-training  courses,  evening  courses  for  adult 
illiterates,  thrift  measures  and  school  savings,  teach- 
ing of  current  events,  more  practical  science  work, 
teaching  of  agriculture,  unit  courses  in  household 
arts,  and  a  score  of  other  things  which  the  school 
men  of  America  say  they  want  and-  which  they 
are  always  saying  "  the  public  will  not  stand  for." 

Shall  we  let  the  golden  opportunity  for  enrich- 
ment pass  until  after  the  war,  when  cities  will 
most  certainly  preach  and  practice  poverty? 

Now  is  the  time  to  evaluate  our  school  subjects, 
to  bring  in  the  new  if  they  are  worth  while,  to 
scrap  the  old  if  they  do  not  stand  the  test  of 
national  needs.  If  a  community  will  not  "stand  for" 
cooking  when  the  H.  C.  L.  rises  like  a  specter 
before  our  doors,  it  will  never  vote  for  household 
arts  after  the  war.  If  a  city  school  favorably  located 
near  the  open  country  will  not  now  extend  its 
educational  program  to  include  community  garden- 
ing when  prices  of  farm  products  are  excessive, 
it  will  hardly  broaden  out  when  the  crisis  of  our 
material  needs  is  over.  If  a  state  will  not  line  up 
with  the   Federal   Board  of  Vocational   Education 


l6  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

for  national  aid  for  its  vocational  schools  when  its 
industries  are  crying  for  trained  youth,  it  will 
never  move  forward  in  time  of  a  normal  demand. 
If  we  do  not  reorganize  our  schools  to  bring  in 
the  best  while  we  may,  we  shall  in  all  probability 
be  required  in  the  near  future  to  discard  some 
things  which  we  have,  without  having  any  oppor- 
tunity to  develop  the  new  things  which  we  have 
stated  in  our  conventions  and  teachers'  institutes 
that  we  earnestly  desire.  World  conditions  chal- 
lenge our  schools.    What  is  their  program? 


CHAPTER  II 
WAR  AND  COMMUNITY  USES  OF  OUR  SCHOOLS 

An  evaluating  test  for  each  of  our  school  subjects 
has  at  last  been  found.  The  test  is  the  capacity 
of  the  subject  to  resporid  to  a  national  need  or  a 
national  ideal.  In  many  instances  of  the  countries 
concerned  in  this  great  war  the  schools  as  a  whole 
have  amply  justified  their  existence,  and  many  of 
the  subjects  taught  have  stood  through  this  world 
emergency  the  acid  test  of  meeting  national  needs. 
The  scientific  and  efficiency  spirit  of  Germany  is 
reflected  in  the  posters  spread  over  Berlin :  "  Send 
your  cherry,  peach,  and  plum  seeds  to  the  school- 
house  with  your  children,"  seeds  being  used  for 
making  fat  and  oil.  The  spirit  of  France  has  been 
reflected,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  following  pages, 
in  the  work  of  the  teachers  and  the  children  for 
the  preservation  of  that  wonderful  nationalism  of 
France.  The  schools  of  England  are  reshaping 
themselves  —  in  fact,  are  being  remade  —  as  a 
result  of   the  shortcomings  set  forth   by  the  war. 

The  schools  of  America  are  to  go  forward.  Pa- 
triotism  now  has  a  new  meaning.    The   principal 

17 


l8  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

from  his  school  platform  has  opportunity  for  an- 
nouncements and  talks  other  than  those  dealing 
with  routine  matters.  The  cooking  teacher  has 
opportunity  to  develop  new  recipes  adapted  to 
present  needs.  The  teacher  of  history  may  redraw 
almost  every  day  the  map  of  Europe.  The  teacher 
of  manual  training  may  substitute  problems  in  con- 
crete for  those  requiring  high-priced  wood  mate- 
rials. The  school  buildings  near  soldiers'  camps 
may,  like  the  Washington  (D.  C.)  buildings,  be 
opened  for  educational  purposes  for  soldiers,  that 
they  may  take  up  general  or  special  educational 
work.  Teachers  of  English  may  have  their  pupils 
study  President  Wilson's  messages  of  state  as 
models  of  English  composition  and  expressions  of 
American  democracy. 

The  opportunity  is  before  the  schools  and  the 
children.  There  are  in  our  school  system  three 
elements  which  may  be  of  use  in  war:  the  build- 
ing itself  with  its  equipment,  the  school  population 
of  boy  and  girl  power,  and  the  teaching  force. 

In  England,  during  the  first  year  of  the  war,  all 
three  were  called  into  requisition.  Within  a  few 
months  over  looo  school  buildings  were  in  tem- 
porary military  use,  and  even  on  August  i,  191 6, 
180  elementary-  and  20  secondary-school  buildings 
were   still  occupied  for  war  work,  —  for  hospitals, 


WAR  AND  COMMUNITY  USES  19 

billeting  of  troops,  housing  of  munition  workers,  etc., 
—  the  number  of  children  displaced  being  129,855. 
In  many  cases  the  use  was  expected  to  be  tempo- 
rary, but  many  buildings  have  been  retained  perma- 
nently. The  children  whose  schooling  was  thus 
interrupted,  when  too  young  for  employment,  gener- 
ally drifted  aimlessly  into  juvenile  delinquency, 
while  those  older,  although  below  the  established 
employment  age,  went  to  farms  and  munition  fac- 
tories. That  is,  the  taking  away  of  the  school 
building  was  concomitant  with  the  suspension  of 
restrictions  on  age  of  employment  and  hours  of 
labor.  The  children  of  the  prosperous  class  were 
likewise  affected  by  the  departure  of  over  50  per 
cent  of  the  teachers  for  military  service. 

These  many  interruptions  in  the  carrying  on  of 
educational  work  were  the  result  of  the  short-war 
fallacy;  they  were  emergency  measures  adopted  to 
meet  a  condition  which  it  was  generally  supposed 
would  last  but  a  few  months.  When,  however,  it 
was  realized  by  statesmen  and  the  public  that  the 
interference  with  education  and  the  suspension  of 
laws  regulating  employment  were  resulting  in  ir- 
reparable injury  to  health  and  morals  of  an  em- 
ployed child  population  under  13  years  of  age  of 
150,000,  and  an  idle  younger  population  variously 
estimated  at   from    200,000  to    300,000,   corrective 


20  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

measures  were  adopted.  American  schools  must 
learn  from  English  experience  what  to  avoid. 
There  are  many  legitimate  uses  of  schools  which 
England  is  now  employing ;  and  the  warnings  of 
interested  English  educators  should  keep  our  legis- 
latures and  municipalities  from  breaking  down  the 
compulsory-education  laws  or  converting  our  schools 
into  industrial  plants.  Our  aim,  as  previously  stated, 
should  be  to  bring  the  war  to  the  school  curriculum 
for  educational  purposes,  not  to  take  the  schools 
into  the  war,  losing  sight  of  their  definite  function. 
In  France,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  many  of 
the  school  buildings  were  requisitioned,  and  30,000 
teachers  were  called  to  the  colors.  The  hardship 
to  the  young  resulting  from  this  patriotic  sacrifice 
was  met  as  far  as  possible  by  the  generosity  of 
private  citizens  who  gave  rooms  or  buildings  for 
classes,  and  by  professional  men,  too  old  for  service, 
who  volunteered  to  carry  on  the  work  of  teaching. 
France  was  swift  to  realize  that  education  must  be 
carried  on  at  all  costs.  In  districts  near  the  fight- 
ing line  schools  were  of  necessity  transformed  into 
hospitals,  often  with  a  staff  of  women  teachers  tem- 
porarily acting  as  nurses  and  attendants;  but  it 
has  been  the  policy  of  the  department  of  public 
instruction  to  regard  this  service  as  temporary,  and 
the  teachers  as  conscripted  for  education. 


WAR  AND  COMMUNITY  USES  21 

The  trying  circumstances  under  which  the  schools 
have  been  carried  on,  serving  nobly  during  the  term 
after  hours  and  during  vacations,  make  their  achieve- 
ments a  record  of  honor.  In  the  country  districts 
where  all  the  local  officials  were  mobilized,  the 
teacher  became  the  sole  agent  of  government,  mak- 
ing out  passports,  requisitions,  relief  lists,  etc.,  pro- 
curing food,  operating  a  public  kitchen,  acting  as 
postmaster,  doing  guard  duty,  and  rendering  num- 
berless other  services  to  the  community.  One  of 
the  first  tasks  of  the  primary  schools  was  to  under- 
take entire  care  of  children  left  without  adequate 
protection.  In  country  districts  the  teachers  were, 
in  default  of  newspapers,  the  dispensers  of  official 
information,  explaining  government  loans  and  giv- 
ing talks  on  the  progress  of  the  war.  Thus  the 
entire  village  was  brought  into  the  schoolhouse, 
which  became  the  real  center  of  the  community. 

In  the  United  States  and  Canada  the  schools 
may  well  copy  some  of  the  measures  initiated  in 
Europe.  That  we  are  3000  miles  from  the  actual 
battleground  ought,  for  the  present,  to  keep  us 
from  considering  any  lowering  of  educational  bars 
or  from  converting  our  buildings  into  purposes 
other  than  educational.  Europe  advises  us  that 
such  transformation  is  of  an  emergency  nature  and 
only  to  be  made  under  stress  of  an  invasion. 


22  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  to  consider 
some  general  uses  of  our  buildings,  our  equip- 
ment (including  the  teaching  force),  and  the  activi- 
ties of  our  pupils,  which  have  been  made  in  the 
past  two  or  three  years,  excluding  and  reserving 
for  the  most  part  for  later  discussion  the  introduc- 
tion of  war  work  in  manual-training,  domestic-arts, 
and  domestic-science  courses,  and  the  part-time 
agricultural  labor. 

An  important  use  of  our  schools,  and  one  which 
should  be  made  more  general  throughout  the 
country,  is  that  of  a  distributing  center  for  gov- 
ernment pamphlets,  information  cards,  etc.  In 
New  York  City  the  various  welfare  committees 
appointed  by  Mayor  Mitchel  designated  the  public 
schools  as  mediums  through  which  to  circulate 
papers  on  "safety  first,"  fire  prevention,  uses  of 
various  food  products,  etc.,  and  thus  reach  the 
families  of  the  vast  foreign  population  through 
their  children.  The  city's  pledges  of  national 
loyalty  to  be  signed  by  adults  were  circulated 
by  the  pupils  shortly  after  the  declaration  of  war. 
Wider  publicity  can  be  given  to  federal  regula- 
tions, tax  measures,  employment  modifications, 
etc.,  by  the  distribution  of  notices  to  pupils  of 
upper  grades,  following  the  explanation  by  the 
teacher.    While  our  people  as  a  whole  read,  though 


WAR  AND  COMMUNITY  USES  23 

hastily,  the  newspapers  morning  and  evening,  and 
may  find  in  them  all  governmental  measures,  it  is 
nevertheless  true  that  we  shall  be  assured  of  a 
wider  distribution  of  information  by  using  the  pupil 
as  the  carrier  of  it  to  the  home.  In  England  the 
schools,  as  well  as  the  Boy  Scouts  organization, 
have  served  as  national  distributing  agencies  for 
war-office  notices.  Parliamentary  information,  and 
agricultural   propaganda. 

A  portion  of  a  letter  from  Sir  Robert  Blair, 
chairman  of  the  Education  Committee  of  the  Lon- 
don County  Council,  to  Superintendent  Maxwell 
of  New  York  City,  in  May,  191 7,  calls  attention  to 
the  service  of  the  schools  in  this  connection. 

War  has  come  upon  us  so  unexpectedly  that  our  people 
not  only  did  not  understand  the  true  position  but  on  the 
whole  knew  very  little  about  the  causes  which  had  led  to 
the  outbreak.  The  public  press,  bookstalls,  and  the  public 
libraries  were  considerably  augmented  by  books  and  pam- 
phlets on  the  subject,  and  it  was  a  natural  prompting  that 
gave  rise  to  the  issue  to  the  schools  of  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  documents,  memoranda,  and  pamphlets.  These  cir- 
culars and  pamphlets  were  mostly  all  issued  within  the  first 
year  of  the  war.  The  first  phase  of  the  pamphlets  is  his- 
torical, while  the  second  became  economical.  The  economi- 
cal phase  in  its  first  stages  was  concentrated  on  war  savings 
for  the  purpose  of  war  loans  and  in  anticipation,  by  the 
provision  of   "  nest   eggs,"   of   the   dislocation   that  might 


24  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

occur  at  the  end  of  the  war.  In  its  later  stages  —  within 
the  last  six  months — the  economical  phase  has  been  directed 
chiefly  to  economy  in  food,  owing  to  the  menace  of  the 
submarine  campaign. 

A  further  use  of  the  school  population  in  hours 
outside  the  daily  session  is  that  of  giving  help 
in  taking  a  census.  In  England  school  teachers 
and  pupils  did  most  of  the  work  of  compiling  the 
National  Register,  a  card  census  of  inhabitants. 
To  some  extent  similar  work  has  been  done  in 
the  United  States,  such  as  the  taking  of  the  agri- 
cultural census  in  fifty-six  counties  (no  census  was 
taken  for  the  counties  of  Hamilton,  Kings,  Queens, 
Richmond,  and  New  York)  in  the  state  of  New 
York  in  April,  191 7.  Under  the  joint  auspices  of 
the  State  Food  Supply  Commission  and  the  State 
Education  Department  a  survey  was  ordered  of 
the  agricultural  resources  of  the  state  and  of  the 
requirements  for  increased  production,  the  details 
of  which  were  worked  out  at  Ithaca  at  the  State 
College  of  Agriculture.  Through  the  appointed 
county  enumerators,  instructions  were  transmitted 
to  the  various  school  districts. 

The  actual  work  of  this  census  was  begun  in 
most  counties  on  April  23,  the  records  being  prac- 
tically all  obtained  by  April  25,  the  teachers  and 
pupils    in    each    district,    assisted    when    necessary 


WAR  AND  COMMUNITY  USES  25 

by  other  persons,  procuring  the  original  facts  from 
farmers  and  making  the  summaries  for  their  school 
districts.  From  these  records  the  state  was  within 
ten  days  furnished  with  the  complete  amount  of 
seed  and  live  stock  wanted  by  farmers  and  for  sale 
by  farmers ;  with  the  statements  of  the  transporta- 
tion difficulties;  with  the  itemized  needs  of  labor, 
fertilizer,  and  spray  materials;  and  with  the  com- 
plete enumeration  of  the  state,  —  people,  land,  and 
live  stock. 

Such  work  by  pupils  might  well  become  an 
established  yearly  activity.  The  practice  of  gath- 
ering and  tabulating  information  has  an  obvious 
arithmetical  value ;  and  the  interest  developed  in 
investigating  the  resources  of  the  community  has 
an  educational  significance  which  should  keep  us 
from  limiting  it  to  emergency  periods. 

The  comparative  table  on  page  26  (one  of  thirteen 
developed  out  of  the  census)  not  only  illustrates 
facts  which  the  children  obtained,  but  also  shows 
the  magnitude  of  the  work  they  undertook. 

One  of  the  best  community  uses  of  the  school  is 
as  a  center  for  instruction  in  conserving  food  prod- 
ucts. With  the  absolute  shortage  of  the  world's 
food  supply,  Americans  must  anticipate  this  short- 
age in  coming  seasons  and  revert  to  the  preserving 
methods  of  their   grandparents,  —  measures   fallen 


26 


OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 


into  disuse  in  crowded  cities  because  of  lack  of 
storage  room  and  the  ease  with  which  the  fresh 
products  have  been  obtained,  whatever  the  season. 

ACRES  OF  CROPS  IN  56  COUNTIES   IN  NEW  YORK  WITH 
COMPARISONS  FOR  THE  SAME  COUNTIES  IN  1909 


Crop 

Acres  (U.S. 
Census,  1909) 

Acres  grown 
IN  1916 

Acres  expected 

TO  BE    grown    in 

1917 

Corn  for  grain     . 

511,339 

336,543 

495,469 

Corn  for  silo  . 

259,082 

362,413 

422,867 

Oats      .     .     . 

1,302,041 

1,102,004 

1,250,346 

Barley  .     .     . 

79.955 

92,422 

II  1,634 

Buckwheat 

286,128 

257,911 

300,090 

Winter  wheat 

289,126 

344,278 

387,813 

Spring  wheat 

289,126 

12,373 

32,425 

Rye.     .     .     . 

130,449 

114,691 

120,239 

Field  beans 

115,695 

194,053 

275,790 

Alfalfa  .     .     . 

35,343 

160,985 

181,912 

Other  hay .     . 

4,737,326 

4,073,333 

3,963,678 

Cabbage    .     . 

33,770 

38,898 

68,890 

Potatoes     .     . 

390,552 

305,649 

382,840 

Canning-factory  crops  "] 

44,098 

60,155 

Other  vegetables  and     V 

131,686 

garden   ....      J 

58,340 

71,833 

Miscellaneous  crops 

21,843 

35,056 

40,895 

Apples 

281,061 

346,633 

Cherries     .     . 

4,211 

12,414 

Peaches     .     . 

15,340 

50,149 

Pears    .     .     . 

13,378 

36,802 

Plums  .     .     . 

5,742 

8,569 

Vineyards  . 

52,999 

52,350 

Small  fruit 

22,388 

28,171 

Total .     . 

8,719,454 

8,701,964 

WAR  AND  COMMUNITY  USES  27 

Even  villages  which  have  no  gas  supply  may 
follow  the  example  of  cities  and  towns  in  using 
the  school  kitchen,  already  installed  as  part  of  a 
domestic-science  equipment  or  newly  supplied  by 
popular  subscription,  as  a  community  canning  cen- 
ter. Certainly  schools  are  as  well  adapted  for  the 
purpose  as  department  stores  and  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations,  which  have  been  leaders  in 
the  movement. 

The  teaching  of  methods  of  preserving  is  pri- 
marily the  function  of  a  school,  and  every  suitable 
school  building  should  be  employed  for  it.  The 
old-fashioned  preserving  meant  time,  drudgery,  ex- 
pense, quantities  of  sugar,  and  doubtful  results.  A 
demonstration  of  the  newer  methods  and  the  oppor- 
tunity for  community  canning  should  be  given  by 
the  school  to  the  neighborhood.  Community  can- 
ning induces  a  far  more  effective  conservation  of 
food  than  is  possible  for  the  individual  kitchen. 
Few  households  can  afford  to  buy  and  store  the 
vast  kettles,  the  perfected  drying  and  dehydrating 
ovens,  which  can  be  included  in  the  equipment  of 
a  school  teaching  the  scientific  preserving  of  food 
and  vegetables.  As  this  is  done  almost  wholly  in 
the  summer,  it  would  not  interfere  with  the  term's 
work  of  the  pupils  and,  in  fact,  offers  the  high- 
school  girls  an  excellent  opportunity  to  assist  in 


28  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

civic  service  of  a  most  practical  nature.  In  the 
summer  of  191 7  Seattle  maintained  20  centers  for 
home-economics  teaching  for  adult  women,  the 
government  bulletin  "  How  to  Select  Food "  being 
used  as  a  textbook. 

There  have  been  wholesome  experiments  in  com- 
munity canning  in  Lakewood,  and  in  Bernards 
Township,  New  Jersey.  In  the  latter  in  each 
school  was  an  experienced  teacher  to  supervise  the 
work  of  preserving  performed  by  high-school  girls 
of  the  neighborhood,  the  fruits  and  vegetables 
being  sold  by  the  townspeople  to  the  school  or 
brought  by  them  to  be  conserved  by  cooperative 
canning  for  their  own  use  in  the  future.  This 
service  of  the  girls  was  on  an  equality  with  that 
of  the  boys  who  belonged  to  the  agricultural  army. 
In  Kansas  City  the  surplus  garden  products  canned 
by  schoolgirls  were  used  for  the  school  lunches. 

England's  schools  now  have  "  open  days "  on 
which  parents  may  be  admitted  to  receive  the  in- 
struction given  to  the  children  in  the  economical 
cooking  of  the  food  which  the  food  controller's 
instructions  show  is  likely  to  be  available  for  gen- 
eral consumption ;  also  (quoting  from  a  letter  from 
Sir  Robert  Blair  of  the  London  County  Council, 
May  30,  1 91 7)  the  responsible  mistresses  of  the 
evening   schools    and    the    domestic-economy    staff 


WAR  AND  COMMUNITY  USES  29 

employed  in  these  schools  are  organizing  traveling 
kitchens  in  29  boroughs  within  the  county.  These 
traveling  kitchens  form  practically  a  demonstration 
set  of  apparatus  by  which  the  simplest  forms  of 
cookery  can  be  shown  to  100  or  200  people.  The 
demonstrations  are  well  attended,  and  the  people 
in  small  villages  thus  have  the  opportunity  of 
those  in  larger  settlements  to  learn  from  experts 
methods  of  making  palatable  the  food  products  less 
well  understood. 

It  may  be  urged  that  community  canning  has  its 
place  outside  cities  of  the  first  class.  New  York 
City  certainly  cannot  be  held  to  be  the  center  of 
an  agricultural  district,  and  yet  valuable  experi- 
ments in  food  conservation  are  being  made  there. 
One  is  concerned  primarily  with  the  prevention  of 
waste.  Of  the  thousands  of  pounds  of  perishable 
vegetables  and  fruit  which  are  brought  each  day  to 
the  produce  piers,  much  is  prohibited  from  being 
sold  to  retailers  because  of  injuries  received  in  trans- 
portation. When  more  than  20  per  cent  has  been 
injured,  it  has  not  paid  wholesalers  to  salvage  the 
uninjured  portion.  As  a  result,  a  ruinous  quantity 
of  produce  has  gone  to  waste,  often  being  dumped 
in  the  harbor  for  want  of  better  disposal.  The 
loss  as  estimated  by  the  board  of  health  has  been 
225,000  pounds  a  week. 


30  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

To  save  this  food  by  making  quick  use  of  it,  in 
July,  191 7,  Mayor  Mitchel's  Committee  of  Women 
on  National  Defense  opened  a  conservation  kitchen 
in  a  disused  school  building  in  the  Williamsburg 
Bridge  section.  Here  the  uncertain  quantity  of 
vegetables  salvaged  from  the  produce  piers  was 
brought  to  the  school,  picked  over,  and  sterilized, 
partly  by  paid  labor,  partly  by  the  volunteer  labor 
of  members  of  the  Women's  University  Club  and 
other  organizations,  or  city  women  who  were  willing 
to  contribute  their  labor  in  the  cause  of  food  sav- 
ing. This  work  was  aided  by  the  State  Food  Sup- 
ply Commission  and  New  York's  board  of  health, 
one  of  whose  inspectors  passed  judgment  on  the 
food  used  in  the  canning  and  drying  experiments. 
The  salvaged  food  was  brought  from  the  piers  to 
the  kitchens  by  Boy  Scouts,  ubiquitously  useful  in 
any  public  undertaking.  If  it  had  not  been  that 
the  kitchen  was  opened  in  vacation,  the  school 
population  would  have  had  its  share  of  work  to 
do.  To  this  kitchen  any  woman  might  go  to  be 
taught  processes  or  actually  to  can  produce. 

While  it  was  not  possible  to  use  all  the  produce 
brought  in,  even  by  keeping  the  kitchen  as  full  of 
workers  as  space  would  allow  and  cooking  as  much 
as  480  gallons  of  food  at  a  time,  the  work  in  this 
old   school  building  is  illustrative  of  what  can  be 


WAR  AND  COMMUNITY  USES  31 

done  in  community  centers  to  eliminate  waste,  and 
is  a  vital  example  of  the  efficient  use  of  a  school 
building  in  vacation.  The  cost  in  this  case  was 
met  by  special  contributions  of  organizations  and 
individuals.  But  in  smaller  places  this  work  might 
be  maintained  by  the  town  itself  on  a  less  elabo- 
rate scale.  Such  work  should  not  be  limited  to  the 
war  period.  It  is  a  practical  and  efficient  plan  for 
all  time. 

The  continued  war  will  undoubtedly  increase  not 
only  the  price  but  the  scarcity  of  cotton  and  woolen 
goods.  Where  it  has  hitherto  not  paid  to  make 
over  clothing  repeatedly  because  of  the  cheapness 
and  ease  with  which  new  garments  and  children's 
wear  have  been  procured,  it  is  now  important  to 
understand  thrifty  saving  of  all  kinds  of  fabrics 
and  apparel. 

Home-economics  women  of  Berkeley,  California, 
aided  in  collecting  and  making  over  old  clothing. 
In  Portland,  Oregon,  a  cleaner  and  dyer  took  as  his 
bit  of  service  the  cleaning  and  disinfecting  of  all  the 
clothing  which  was  remade  by  the  school  children. 

In  England's  county  schools  there  have  been 
held  exhibitions  of  thrift,  to  show  children  when 
and  how  economies  can  be  practiced.  Some  of  the 
examples  shown  under  the  heading  of  "  Utilization 
of   Waste    Material "    were   as   follows :    old   linen 


32  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

collars  and  cuffs  made  into  baggage  labels,  window 
cleaners  made  from  pieces  of  old  gloves,  house  slip- 
pers made  from  old  felt  hats,  mops  made  of  bits 
of  rags  fastened  to  a  nail.  Ways  were  shown  of 
making  use  of  scraps  of  wool  left  over  from  knit- 
ting, the  wasting  of  an  inch  of  wool  being  regarded 
as  treasonable  in  the  country's  shortage ;  methods 
of  refooting  stockings  were  also  displayed,  as  well  as 
many  uses  for  pieces  of  worn  table  and  bed  linen 
and  old  carpets. 

In  times  of  normal  plenty  such  exhibitions  would 
not  attract  attention,  but  no  greater  evidence  of 
the  reduced  state  of  a  nation  at  war  can  be  had 
than  the  seriousness  with  which  these  exhibitions 
of  household  thrift  have  been  viewed  by  the  popu- 
lation. A  clipping  from  a  newspaper  of  rural  Eng- 
land requests  that  children  go  into  the  pastures 
and  pick  from  the  bushes  the  bits  of  wool  which 
the  sheep  have  rubbed  off. 

For  several  years,  at  least,  there  will  be  high 
prices  and  scarcity  of  materials.  Our  children  must 
be  taught  the  necessity  of  preventing  waste  of 
fabrics  as  well  as  of  food.  Millions  of  dollars  worth 
of  cotton  and  wool  have  been  destroyed  in  military 
and  munition  use.  But  it  is  not  only  because  war 
conditions  have  made  material  scarce  and  high  that 
thrift  in  their  use  must  be  insisted  upon  in  every 


Old-fashioned  methods  of  preserving  must  again  prevail.    There  is  educa- 
tional value  in  community  conservation.   Montclair  (New  Jersey)  boys  made 
community  evaporators,  having  a  capacity  of  from  five  to  eight  bushels  of 
fruit  a  day,  at  a  cost  of  only  $io 


A  mowing  machine  is  a  problem  in  high-school  mechanics,  and  these  farm 
cadets  of  New  York  State  see,  perhaps  for  the  first  time,  a  use  for  it 


A  day's  outing  iui  a  puipusc.    Albany  and  'I'luy  ^Xew  York)  orphan-asylum 
boys  on  their  way  to  "  do  their  bit "  in  the  currant  fields 


A  lesson  m  sm  \  k  c  geography.    Boys  liom  Albany  and  Troy  (New  York) 

picking    currants,   near    Hudson    (New   York),    which    were    preserved    in 

Yonkers  Trades  School  for  shipment  to  France 


WAR  AND  COMMUNITY  USES  33 

household ;  we  must  remember  that  biUions  of  dol- 
lars will  be  required  to  pay  for  this  war  and  each 
household  will  be  required  to  make  its  contribution. 
Expenditures  in  every  direction  must  be  curbed 
and  the  wise  disposition  of  every  dollar  must  be 
made.  A  year  or  so  ago  the  Bankers  Association 
of  America  launched  a  campaign  for  thrift  teaching. 
We  were  then  told  that,  as  individuals,  we  must 
save  for  the  future.  The  present  high  cost  of  liv- 
ing shows  that  we  are  obliged  to  save  in  the  pres- 
ent in  order  to  live  in  the  present,  but  the  future 
will  tell  us  to  save  in  order  that  we,  as  a  nation, 
may  pay  for  the  war. 

Many  community  services  may  be  rendered  dur- 
ing the  war  by  the  principal  of  a  school.  He  may, 
as  has  been  done,  organize  patriotic  meetings,  en- 
listing the  aid  of  the  churches  and  arousing  the 
interest  of  chambers  of  commerce,  civic  clubs,  and 
women's  clubs  in  the  Red  Cross,  the  Liberty  Loan, 
and  school  war  gardens.  His  assembly  exercises 
may  be  made  vital  through  talks  to  the  pupils  on 
opportunities  for  war  service ;  through  platform  rec- 
ognition of  boys  and  girls  rendering  special  farm, 
garden,  Red  Cross,  and  food-conservation  help ;  by 
placing  on  a  conspicuous  bulletin  a  roll  of  honor 
of  graduates  and  students  engaged  in  such  work; 
by  keeping  the  school  in  touch  with  graduates  who 


34  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

are  enlisted  in  the  army  and  navy  by  reading  their 
letters  to  the  school  and  sending  school  packets  to 
them.  He  may  advise  economy  in  the  use  of  foods 
and  clothing,  the  elimination  of  expenditures  in 
soda  water,  ice  cream,  and  gum,  and  the  sacrifice 
of  pleasure  for  national  ends.  He  may  urge  the  use 
of  savings  in  the  purchase  of  government  bonds 
and  war-savings  certificates.  Where  the  school  has 
been  raising  money  for  pictures  or  a  phonograph, 
he  may  suggest  that  the  funds  raised  be  used  for 
the  purchase  of  one  or  more  government  bonds, 
to  be  held  by  the  school  as  an  asset  until  the  close 
of  the  war,  when  the  bond  may  be  sold  and  the 
money  used  for  its  original  purpose  of  buying  the 
phonograph  or  pictures.  In  the  case  of  some  pri- 
vate secondary  schools,  and  large  public  schools 
like  the  Washington  Irving  and  DeWitt  Clinton 
high  schools.  New  York,  the  pupils  and  teachers 
have  subscribed  money  and  given  entertainments 
for  the  purchase  of  an  ambulance,  the  gift  of  the 
school  to  the  American  Expeditionary  Force.  In 
one  New  York  City  school,  through  the  efforts  of 
a  student  organization,  Liberty  Loan  bonds  to  the 
amount  of  ^479,800  were  sold. 

The  principal  in  country  districts  should  make 
himself  fully  informed  of  the  details  of  the  federal 
farm-loan  plan,  the  sources  of  available  seed  supply, 


WAR  AND  COMMUNITY  USES  35 

the  posters  and  bulletins  of  nation  and  state  re- 
garding the  mobilization  of  schools  and  colleges, 
and,  of  course,  he  should  be  especially  active  in 
encouraging  the  home-garden  projects. 

A  correspondent  in  the  London  Times,  June  14, 
191 7,  writing  of  that  indispensable  teaching  of  thrift 
in  household  affairs,  of  making  the  present  genera- 
tion of  young  girls  intelligently  self-sufHcient  in 
domestic  and  industrial  life,  cries,  ''  This  brings  us 
to  the  crux  of  the  whole  situation :  Who  shall  teach 
the  teachers  ?  "  The  government  and  state  bulle- 
tins on  food  production  and  conservation,  the  liter- 
ature sent  out  by  state  councils  of  defense  and 
public  safety  on  improved  methods  of  preserving, 
the  pronouncements  by  banking  houses  on  thrift 
measures  and  means  of  attaining  them,  the  Boy 
Scouts,  Y.M.C.A.  and  Y.W.C.A.  leaflets  on  war 
gardens  and  food  economies  are,  in  America, 
beginning  to  answer  this  question. 

Assuredly  the  war  places  an  additional  burden 
on  the  teachers  and  gives  them  a  new  opportunity 
for  educating  the  pupils.  A  teacher  does  not 
have  to  belong  to  the  department  of  domestic 
arts  and  science  to  organize  Red  Cross  circles 
nor  to  instruct  girls  in  food  conservation.  A  ten- 
minute  talk  each  morning  by  teacher  or  pupils, 
before  the  opening  of  school,  with  discussion  on 


36  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

such  topics  as  "  Why  a  man  with  a  hundred  dol- 
lars to  invest  should  buy  a  Liberty  Bond,"  "  New 
occupations  open  to  women  because  of  the  war," 
"  The  reason  for  the  scarcity  of  certain  prod- 
ucts," "  Home  substitutes  for  various  manufac- 
tured necessities,"  and  many  others  suggested  by 
new  conditions  should  be  very  helpful. 

An  unusually  significant  experiment  known  as 
the  "  War  Savings  "  movement  has  been  made  in 
English  schools.  On  May  5,  1916,  the  Board  of 
Education  issued  a  circular  asking  for  the  assist- 
ance of  local  education  authorities  in  making 
known  through  public  elementary  schools  the 
facilities  afforded  by  the  issue  of  War  Savings 
certificates.  Then,  with  the  cooperation  of  these 
authorities  and  teachers,  special  lessons  were  given 
on  the  subject,  and  copies  of  a  leaflet  explaining 
the  purpose  of  the  War  Savings  Association  were 
widely  distributed  to  the  parents  through  their 
children.  As  a  result  a  large  number  of  War  Sav- 
ings associations  were  formed  in  direct  connection 
with  the  schools.  The  success  of  the  movement 
is  evident  from  the  records  given  in  the  report  of 
the  Board  of  Education  for  191 5-1 9 16.  In  one 
populous  midland  county  the  great  majority  of  the 
schools  have  established  associations ;  in  another,  a 
northern  county,  some  70  per  cent  of  the  schools 


WAR  AND  COMMUNITY  USES  Z7 

have  taken  part  and  record  nearly  10,000  sub- 
scribers. In  one  midland  town  a  school  of  about 
1400  children  purchased  certificates  to  the  value 
of  £S^S  ii^  three  months.  But  it  is  not  only 
in  large  schools  that  the  pupils  have  contributed 
generously;  a  remote  little  school  in  a  northern 
county,  with  only  10  children  on  its  register,  has 
10  subscribers  to  its  credit  and  has  saved  ;^35, 
buying  43  certificates. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  successive  issues  of  bonds 
must  be  made  by  the  United  States  and  other  gov- 
ernments of  the  world,  this  method  of  making  sub- 
scription to  the  war  loan  popular  is  worthy  of 
attention.  The  public  schools  have,  as  never  before, 
the  opportunity  of  showing  the  practical  value  of 
investing,  in  peace  as  well  as  in  war  time,  in  gov- 
ernment and  other  bonds.  Pupils  should  realize 
the  difference  between  money  invested  in  a  way 
to  be  beneficial  not  only  to  the  investor  but  to 
his  state  and  country,  and  money  invested  in 
ordinary  channels. 

New  York  State  teachers  had  an  opportunity 
similar  to  those  of  England.  The  Regents  of  the 
University  of  the  state  of  New  York  gave  formal 
approval  of  a  plan  by  which  teachers  throughout 
the  public  schools  of  the  state  could  aid  the  Liberty 
Loan  committee  of  the  Federal  Reserve   Bank  in 


38  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

giving  instruction  and  information  about  the  second 
Liberty  Loan.  A  special  committee  was  appointed 
by  the  Board  of  Regents  to  act  in  a  supervisory 
capacity  to  keep  the  State  Education  Department 
in  touch  with  the  large  financial  interests  con- 
ducting the  loan.  The  secretary  to  Commissioner 
Finley,  as  the  representative  of  the  Regents  and 
the  State  Education  Department,  was  assigned  for 
temporary  services  in  the  office  of  the  Loan 
committee. 

The  program  in  brief  was  to  have  the  teachers 
act  as  agents  for  subscriptions  for  the  Liberty  Loan. 
They  distributed  blanks  to  pupils  in  the  school, 
who  in  turn  took  them  to  their  parents.  They 
were  encouraged  to  subscribe  themselves.  They 
did  not  handle  any  money  or  checks,  but  turned 
the  subscription  blanks  over  to  the  local  bank,' 
which  was,  of  course,  in  direct  touch  with  the  Loan 
committee  in  New  York  City. 

A  primer  of  instruction  for  teachers  was  pre- 
pared in  the  simplest  possible  terms.  As  published 
by  the  Publicity  Bureau  of  the  United  States 
Treasury  Department  it  was  called  "  A  Source 
Book  of  the  Second  Liberty  Loan."  This  primer 
explained  in  detail  the  nature  of  the  bonds,  their 
security,  and  the  terms  and  prices ;  it  described 
the  nature  of  bond  markets  in  general,  the  sources 


WAR  AND  COMMUNITY  USES  39 

from  which  interest  is  paid,  the  previous  records 
of  United  States  bonds,  and  all  other  matter  which 
was  of  value  in  elementary  financial  instruction.  It 
was  all  set  forth  in  a  way  which  was  very  helpful 
not  only  in  assisting  in  the  sale  of  bonds  but  in 
the  larger  sense  of  furthering  instruction  in  bonds, 
interest,  discounts,  etc.,  in  connection  with  work 
in  arithmetic.  And  in  what  better  way  could  arith- 
metical instruction  be  furthered  ? 

It  is  highly  probable  that  this  plan  of  informing 
the  public  relative  to  government  issues  of  bonds 
and  certificates,  initiated  in  New  York,  will  extend 
to  all  parts  of  the  country  in  connection  with  the 
next  Loan  campaign. 

How  the  responsibility  of  the  teacher  has  been 
met  in  France  is  in  part  suggestive.  The  teachers 
have  collected  large  funds  to  finance  the  enterprise 
of  caring  for  thousands  of  families  of  Belgian  and 
French  refugees.  They  also  collected  from  the 
civilian  population  several  millions  of  francs,  the 
teachers  taxing  themselves  according  to  a  fixed 
schedule.  They  have  been  especially  successful  in 
bringing  to  light  for  investment  stores  of  hidden 
gold  in  the  homes  of  provincial  savers.  Surpris- 
ing results  have  been  attained  through  their 
persistent,  methodical  propaganda.  In  one  large 
provincial  town,  after  a  talk  to  the  older  pupils  by 


40  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

the  mistress  of  the  school,  in  four  days  an  amount 
equal  to  7200  francs  was  brought  in.  In  the  same 
school  the  following  composition  was  given  out  to 
the  pupils  as  part  of  an  admission  examination 
in  penmanship. 

THE  GOLD  OF  FRANCE  ^ 

France  has  need  of  its  gold  to  defend  its  invaded  ter- 
ritory. It  is  a  sacred  duty  for  every  French  man  and  woman, 
rich  or  poor,  to  send  to  the  coffers  of  the  State  the  hundreds 
of  louis  from  their  strong  boxes,  the  few  louis  hidden  in 
the  linen  chest  at  home,  even  the  single  louis  in  the  chil- 
dren's toy  bank.  To  keep  in  one's  own  possession,  self- 
ishly, the  money  which  could  serve  our  dear  France  is  a 
crime  against  patriotism.  So,  little  girls,  do  not  hesitate 
to  break  open  your  banks,  even  if  they  have  only  a  half 
louis  inside,  and  gladly  take  in  exchange  the  note  which 
the  Bank  of  France  will  give  you.  More  than  that,  in  your 
vacation  in  the  country,  set  yourselves  to  get  grandmother 
to  empty  her  stocking, — she  is  sometimes  rather  stingy 
with  her  money.  But  you  know  well  enough  how  to  coax 
those  who  love  you  when  you  want  a  toy,  or  ornament,  or 
bonbons.  Use  your  influence  with  your  grandparents  now, 
so  that  they  will  bring  into  the  public  treasury  the  gold 
of  France.  In  this  way  you  will  have  contributed  to  the 
coming  victory  that  we  are  all  hoping  for,  you  will  have 
helped  our  brave  soldiers  to  clear  away  the  German  whose 
presence  defiles  our  land.  Go,  then,  all  of  you  !  Hunt  out 
all  the  money  that  is  lying  idle.    It  is  for  France ! 

1  Edouard  Petit,  De  I'ecole  a  la  guerre,  p.  175.    Paris,  1916. 


WAR  AND  COMMUNITY  USES  41 

Thus  the  schools  have  worked  to  bring  to  light 
the  hoarded  gold  of  thrifty  peasants  for  investment 
in  the  national  loan. 

Tangible  as  this  service  of  the  teachers  has  been 
to  France,  of  greater  importance  has  been  their 
work  of  making  clear  to  the  villages  the  cause  of 
France.  In  November,  19 14,  the  Department  of 
Public  Instruction  sent  out  an  appeal  to  the 
professional  and  volunteer  teachers  in  the  second- 
ary schools,  saying  that  the  schools  must  adapt 
their  program  to  the  duties  and  needs  created  by 
the  hostilities. 

The  teachers  will  do  their  best  to  make  the  schools 
serve  in  the  national  defense.  In  the  evenings  the  old 
men,  the  youths,  and  the  women  will  gather  together,  and 
the  teachers  will  tell  them  the  news,  explain  things  that 
happen,  speak  to  them  of  patriotism,  and  read  to  them 
from  our  writers  whose  pages  are  inspired  with  the  glorious 
deeds  of  our  history  past  and  present. 

It  is  reported  that  in  the  girls'  schools  in  France 
war  has  changed  the  whole  aspect  of  education. 
History,  geography,  lectures  on  literature,  subjects 
for  literary  composition  or  moral  instruction,  —  in 
fact  everything,  —  is  treated  from  the  point  of  view 
of  country  and  of  patriotic  duty.  In  music  practically 
nothing  is  sung  but  the  "  Marseillaise,"  the  "  Chant 
du  Depart,"  and  the  national  songs  of  the  Allies. 


42  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

Reading  is  confined  often  to  official  military  orders 
and  reports,  while  drawings  are  usually  of  war 
material  or  characters. 

It  is  no  less  the  duty  of  our  teachers  to  make 
clear  to  their  pupils  the  "  cause  "  of  America.  Soon 
after  the  opening  of  the  European  war  a  United 
States  senator  traveled  through  the  belligerent 
countries.  His  articles  on  Europe  at  war  com- 
mented caustically  on  the  ignorance  of  the  English 
working  people  of  the  cause  of  the  war,  and  of  the 
purpose  for  which  the  Allies  were  fighting.  An 
article  on  America  at  war  could  truthfully  con- 
tain like  criticism  of  a  considerable  portion  of 
our   population. 

Shortly  after  the  United  States  entered  the  war 
a  teacher  in  one  of  our  largest  city  high  schools, 
where  a  large  proportion  of  the  pupils  are  of  either 
foreign  birth  or  foreign  parentage,  asked  200  pupils 
of  from  14  to  18  years  to  write  a  brief  statement  of 
what  they  considered  to  be  the  cause  of  America's 
entrance  into  the  war.  While  these  answers  covered 
an  incredible  range  of  inaccuracy,  not  one  showed 
an  understanding  of  the  events  which  led  to  the 
declaration  of  April,  191 7.  "  Congress  has  declared 
war  so  that  the  rich  folks  can  get  richer,"  "  We 
are  at  war  because  this  is  a  rich  man's  country," 
predominated  as  replies.  When  asked  what  a  citizen 


WAR  AND  COMMUNITY  USES  43 

owed  his  country  in  return  for  political  and  reli- 
gious freedom,  students  replied  in  as  vague  and 
cynical  a  way  as  to  the  first  question. 

To  combat  this  ignorance  of  national  motives 
the  teacher  distributed  copies  of  President  Wilson's 
address  of  April  2,  with  the  ostensible  purpose  of 
analyzing  it  as  an  exercise  in  argument  and  expo- 
sition, —  a  study  which  finally  resulted  in  enabling 
these  students  to  make  intelligent,  if  occasionally 
unsympathetic,  answers  to  questions  regarding  the 
nation's  action  and  policy. 

Now  to  residents  of  favored  parts  of  the  country 
where  the  population  is  English  speaking  and 
largely  American  born,  inheriting  American  ideals 
and  traditions,  the  ignorance  of  these  high-school 
pupils  seems  exceptional,  but  educators  know  from 
experiments  made  in  colleges  and  secondary  insti- 
tutions that  the  majority  of  students  are  not  intel- 
ligent on  modern  events  of  national  significance, 
any  more  than  is  the  average  worker.  Nearly  all 
high  schools  have  in  their  curriculum  the  study 
of  current  events,  whether  in  history  or  oral  Eng- 
lish courses.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  teacher  to  use 
the  study  in  such  a  manner  as  to  obtain  a  patri- 
otic reaction  to  the  topics  presented  and  discussed, 
and  in  this  manner  to  make  clear  why  we  are 
fighting  and  what  we  are  fighting  for. 


44  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

Out  of  this  war  we  must  obtain  a  new  spirit  of 
patriotism.  Now  is  the  time  to  strike.  Events 
depicted  in  the  daily  press  show  how  great  is  the 
need.  In  this  connection  the  Council  of  Defense 
of  Connecticut,  in  an  effective  campaign  working 
through  the  schools,  states  in  a  recent  publication: 

The  war  is  bound  to  have  a  deep  influence  on  American 
life  and  thought,  and  we  should  be  watchful  to  direct  this 
into  right  channels.  The  country  is  shot  through  and 
through  with  the  one-sided  philosophy  that  the  State  is  an 
institution  to  be  leaned  upon  and  filched  from,  but  not  to 
be  served.  The  schools  should  train  the  children  in  the 
fundamental  contract  between  citizen  and  State.  The  idea 
of  mutuality  should  be  developed.  The  State  owes  duties 
to  the  citizen,  but  the  citizen  owes  reciprocal  duties  to 
the  State. 

In  September,  19 14,  as  soon  after  the  declaration 
of  war  as  military  and  agricultural  conditions  would 
permit  the  schools  to  open,  the  French  Minister  of 
Public  Instruction  sent  an  official  circular  to  all  of 
the  schools.  He  stated  that  the  first  lesson  in  every 
school  should  be  devoted  to  France:  to  its  present 
danger  and  its  heroic  resistance ;  to  the  ideals  of 
humanity  and  justice  for  which  she  fought ;  to  the 
memory  of  the  valor  of  her  soldiers ;  to  the  justice 
of  her  cause.  He  desired  to  make  certain  at  the 
earliest   possible    moment  that   every  school  child 


WAR  AND  COMMUNITY  USES  45 

in  France  take  his  part  spiritually  and  intellectually 
in  the  epic  conflict  which  France  was  waging  for 
right  and  justice. 

His  decree  outlining  the  first  lesson  for  every 
child  of  France  expresses  so  clearly  the  French 
attitude  and  feeling  that  the  following  free  render- 
ing of  the  circular  letter  is  well  worth  reading. 

The  lycees,  colleges,  and  public  schools  are  about  to 
open  everywhere  except  where  the  superior  need  of  impro- 
vised hospitals  in  school  buildings  caring  for  our  glorious 
wounded  renders  this  impossible. 

I  decree  that  on  the  opening  day  in  every  city  and  in 
every  class  the  first  words  of  the  teacher  to  the  pupils 
shall  be  designed  to  bring  the  hearts  of  the  pupils  into 
accord  with  the  sacred  struggle  in  which  our  armies  are 
engaged. 

Throughout  the  entire  country  at  the  same  hour  the  sons 
of  France  shall  pay  respect  to  the  spirit  of  their  nation  and 
shall  pay  tribute  to  the  heroism  of  those  who  are  pouring 
out  their  blood  for  liberty,  justice,  and  human  right. 

The  words  of  the  teachers  on  this  occasion  should  be 
simple  and  to  the  point.  They  should  be  adapted  to  the 
age  of  their  hearers,  some  of  whom  are  children,  some 
youths.  Each  of  our  schools  has  sent  its  quota  of  combat- 
ants to  the  firing  line,  —  professors,  teachers,  or  pupils  ;  the 
words  of  the  teacher  to  the  class  should  call  forth  the 
noble  remembrance  of  the  dead,  in  order  to  exalt  their 
example  and  engrave  it  forever  in  the  memory  of  the  chil- 
dren.    Moreover,   in  its  broad  lines,  calmly,  clearly,   they 


46  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

should  tell  the  causes  of  the  war,  —  the  aggression  without 
excuse,  —  and  how  before  the  civilized  world,  France,  eter- 
nal champion  of  progress  and  right,  has  been  compelled  to 
prepare  herself,  with  her  valiant  allies,  to  repel  the  assault 
of  the  modern  barbarians. 

The  furious  conflict  which  we  are  carrying  insistently  to 
victory  adds  each  day  to  the  glory  of  our  soldiers  a  thou- 
sand deeds  of  heroism  from  which  the  teacher  may  take  the 
best  part  of  this  lesson.  He  should  prefer  these  supreme 
models  of  action  to  the  vain  repetition  of  phrases,  in  order 
to  make  a  fit  impression  on  the  minds  of  the  children. 

A  vivid  recollection  of  this  first  school  hour  ought  to 
remain  imprinted  forever  in  the  spirit  of  the  pupil,  who 
is  the  citizen  of  to-morrow.  The  teacher  who  has  known 
how  to  make  this  impression  will  remain  worthy  of  the 
confidence  of  the  republic. 

America  too  will  have  its  lesson  sheets,  and  a 
most  timely  one  on  "  Lessons  of  the  Great  War 
in  the  Classroom  "  has  been  prepared  for  teachers 
of  history  by  the  National  Board  for  Historical 
Service  (Washington,  D.C.)  with  the  distinct  pur- 
pose of  suggesting  certain  aspects  of  history,  ancient 
and  modern,  which  have  gained  a  new  interest  in 
the  light  of  the  great  war.  The  following  excerpts 
are  extremely  suggestive  of  special  opportunities 
and   obligations   for  teachers   in   school   service : 

There  is  the  duty  of  keeping,  for  teacher  and  for  pupil, 
the  habit  of  at  least  trying  to  see  things  as  they  really  were 


WAR  AND  COMMUNITY  USES  47 

and  are.  .  .  .  Every  great  war  is  fought  not  merely  by 
armies  and  navies,  but  by  the  governments  at  home  which 
direct  the  fighting  forces.  ...  No  one  can  take  an  intelH- 
gent  part  in  a  great  conflict  for  the  safety  of  democracy 
under  an  orderly  system  of  international  law  unless  he  is 
really  interested  in  and  knows  something  about  other  nations 
than  his  own.  .  .  .  There  is  some  connection  between  the 
conditions  which  made  the  valleys  of  the  Tigris  and 
Euphrates  one  of  the  great  seats  of  ancient  civilization  and 
those  which  are  making  Mesopotamia  to-day  one  of  the 
chief  theaters  of  the  great  war.  .  .  .  This  terrible  catas- 
trophe, with  its  wholesale  destruction  of  the  finest  products 
of  human  civilization,  its  life  and  death  struggle  between 
opposing  nations  and  opposing  ideals,  has  seemed  a  reason 
for  thinking  not  less  but  more  of  the  great  mysterious  forces 
which  brought  about  the  rise  and  decline  of  the  ancient 
empire.  .  .  .  Great  campaigns  are  again  carried  on  where 
Xenophon  marched  with  his  famous  Ten  Thousand,  where 
Alexander  the  Great  led  his  armies  to  the  conquest  of 
the  East.  .  .  .  The  opportunity  must  now  be  seized  to 
study  the  whole  of  Europe  and  its  influence  on  and  con- 
nections with  the  rest  of  the  world.  .  .  .  Some  account 
should  be  given  of  the  way  in  which  the  ruling  class  in 
Prussia  has  been  able  to  use  science,  modern  business 
methods,  and  social  legislation  in  the  service  of  the  military 
state,  .  .  .  War  is  the  business  not  only  of  governments 
but  of  the  nation  as  a  whole,  and  there  are  few  kinds  of 
human  activity  which  do  not  have  some  relation  to  its  suc- 
cess or  failure.  .  .  .  We  are  fighting  partly,  indeed,  to 
defend  international  law  on  the  high  seas,  but  partly  also  to 
make  the  zvorld,  not  merely  America,  "safe  for  democracy." 


48  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

Teachers  are  recognized  as  the  instructing  force 
of  America.  If  they  are  not,  who  is?  If  the  coun- 
try sorely  needs  clear,  definite,  authentic  informa- 
tion on  the  situation  of  the  world  and  our  own 
position  as  a  belligerent  power,  who  is  to  give  it 
if  not  the  teachers  ?  It  is  they  who  must  inform 
and  arouse.  It  is  they  who  ought  to  participate  in 
a  speaking  campaign  which  should  be  as  deep  as 
the  danger,  as  wide  as  the  country,  and  as  high  as 
the  patriotic  spirit  of  the  people.  They  should  be 
distributing  agents  for  printed  material  which  ana- 
lyzes the  subject,  and  should  be  able  to  refer  to 
the  best  and  most  available  authorities  and  to  put 
before  pupils  and  the  public  the  texts  of  the  most 
important  speeches,  diplomatic  notes,  and  other 
approved  material  to  back  up  statements  of  fact. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  it  is  the  children's  con- 
victions which  take  effect  not  only  when  as  chil- 
dren they  carry  word  to  their  parents  but  also 
when  they  come  out  of  childhood  into  adult  life. 

Was  the  boy  in  the  New  York  high  school  right 
when  he  said,  ''  It  is  a  Wall  Street  war"  ?  Are  our 
enemies  justified  in  charging  us  with  the  same 
motives  of  self-interest  and  the  abasement  of  other 
nations  which  animated  themselves  ?  Are  we  really 
at  war  for  conquest  or  seizure,  or  for  the  benefit 
of   commerce,  or   for   defense   against   aggressions 


WAR  AND  COMMUNITY  USES  49 

that  have  not  yet  been  made?  And  is  it  a  dollar 
war  for  bankers  and  ammunition  makers? 

It  is  to  answer  these  and  other  questions  that 
a  systematic  effort  to  inform  and  arouse  the  Amer- 
ican people  should  be  taken  up  and  carried  into 
effect  by  public-school  teachers,  having  in  mind 
that  the  most  effective  and  most  important  work 
may  be  done  in  the  classroom  in  connection  with 
lessons  in  civics  and  history.  To  wait  for  text- 
books on  the  present  European  war  is  to  wait  until 
it  is  over.  To  wait  to  put  the  study  of  the  present 
war  into  a  course  of  study  in  its  chronological 
sequence  is  to  wait  until  the  next  generation  of 
children  come  upon  the  stage.  No,  now  is  the 
time  for  our  schools  to  include  the  teaching  of 
the  war  and  to  discuss  ofHcially  proposed  peace 
plans,  when  the  street  is  alive  with  soldiers,  when 
the  newspapers  display  huge  headlines  and  the  bill- 
boards are  covered  with  recruiting  posters,  when 
magazines  furnish  helpful  material  for  teachers,  and 
when  the  whole  world  is  charged  with  feeling. 

The  National  Security  League  (New  York  City) 
has  outlined  a  plan  for  public  addresses  and  lec- 
tures, and  it  has  printed  a  little  book  entitled 
"Wake  Up,  America."  The  following  topics  have 
been  selected  from  an  outline  furnished  by  this 
league : 


50  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

Foreign  military  systems  and  international  relations. 

Spirit  of  the  American  people  as  shown  in  our  history  of 
liberty  and  democracy. 

Causes  of  the  war  between  the  United  States  and  Central 
Powers. 

First  two  and  one-half  years  of  the  war  in  relation  to  the 
principles  of  the  foreign  policy  of  the  United  States. 

Universal  military  training  and  service  as  now  provided  by 
Congress. 

Organization  and  work  of  the  army  and  navy :  selection ; 
supplying  needs. 

General  military  preparations  in  the  country  at  large  :  ma- 
terials, transportation,  and  public  finance. 

Duty  of  the  citizen  in  relation  to  obligations  of  all  citizens 
as  an  offset  to  benefits  of  citizenship. 

Service  outside  of  military  and  naval ;  as,  for  example,  the 
munition  work,  transportation,  building  of  ships  and 
machinery,  farming,  etc. 

Faithfulness  of  foreign-born  citizens. 

Need  of  efficiency  and  economy  in  local,  municipal,  and 
state  governments. 

Description  of  modern  warfare  as  defining  the  immediate 
task  of  the  American  people  in  regard  to  organiza- 
tion and  action  of  the  various  services  ;  as,  for  example, 
men  in  the  trenches,  health  protection,  Red  Cross,  etc. 

Accessories ;  for  instance,  patriotic  music  and  recitations, 
flag  marches,  and  parades. 

Illustrative  material,  such  as  maps  and  charts  illustrating 
the  problems  of  recruiting ;  slides  and  movies  ;  posters 
in  public  places  ;  exhibitions  of  foreign  posters. 


WAR  AND  COMMUNITY  USES  51 

These  topics  as  outlined  here  are  not  sufficiently 
related  to  the  actual  conflict.  They  are  excellent 
from  the  formal  point  of  view,  but  they  fail  to  get 
at  the  center  of  living  interest  in  the  vital  present 
moment  of  history.  Often  when  it  has  been  asked 
of  the  children  in  France :  "  What  are  you  study- 
ing ?  "  "  What  are  they  teaching  you  ?  "  the  answer 
has  been:  "The  war,  madam."  "The  war,  mon- 
sieur." And  if  the  question  was  taken  up  with 
the  teacher,  the  answer  has  been : 

By  means  of  our  war  map  on  which  is  marked  the 
present  position  of  the  French  and  German  troops,  the 
particular  spot  in  the  line  in  which  the  parents  of  our 
boys  and  girls  are  fighting,  we  teach  not  only  current 
history,  but  in  the  most  vital  way  geography  and  many 
related    subjects. 

By  means  of  our  use  of  great  contemporary  political 
documents,  by  the  speeches  of  Viviani,  Deschanel,  Ribot, 
and  the  other  statesmen,  by  the  famous  orders  of  Joffre, 
Petain,  and  our  military  leaders,  by  the  interpretation  of 
the  war  by  our  great  philosophers, — we  teach  in  the  most 
vital  way  the  need  of  the  country,  the  ideals  of  France, 
and  much  of  the  history  of  France.  By  reason  of  the 
war  work  instituted  in  every  school  as  part  of  the  regular 
curriculum,  we  teach  commercial  geography,  economics, 
and  many  branches  of  science  as  they  are  actually  related 
to  human  life  and  experience,  and  not  in  the  abstract 
manner  in  which  they  are  treated  in  the  textbooks. 


52  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

Mr.  Albert  Sarraut,  Minister  of  Public  Instruction 
in  France  in  19 14- 191 5,  said  in  a  public  address: 

If  there  remains  in  the  schools  of  France  a  single 
teacher  who  has  not  been  profoundly  touched  by  the  war 
and  who  goes  about  his  usual  occupation  of  teaching  in 
the  same  way  that  he  did  prior  to  August  2,  19 14,  teach- 
ing the  same  subjects  in  the  same  way,  doing  only  the 
ordinary,  familiar  school  tasks,  whose  work  has  not  been 
entirely  transformed  and  inspired  by  the  war,  we  have  yet 
to  hear  of  him  or  her,  and  we  do  not  believe  that 
such    exists. 

It  is  inevitable  that  many  of  our  school  subjects 
will  change  their  emphasis  after  the  war.  To  some 
teachers  the  awakening  will  be  cruel,  to  others  a 
blessing  in  the  form  of  new  opportunity. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  FIELD  FOR  INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  SCHOOLS 

For  ten  years  a  group  of  men  in  America  have 
been  trying  to  convince  Congress  that  we  should 
set  up  a  national  program  of  secondary  vocational 
education.  As  a  precedent  we  have  had  a  system 
of  agricultural  and  mechanic-arts  education  of 
collegiate  grade  in  existence  for  the  last  fifty 
years.  But  we  have  had  in  the  past  no  system  of 
national  aid  for  promoting  and  maintaining  a  type 
of  vocational  education  in  agriculture,  mechanic 
arts,  and  home-making,  which  would  reach  a  much 
larger  clientele  than  could  possibly  be  touched 
through  any  land-grant  college  system.  It  has 
been  an  up-hill  fight  to  get  Congress  to  see  the 
importance  of  providing  vocational  education  for 
industrial  workers.  Bill  after  bill  was  introduced 
providing  for  national  aid.  These  bills  defined 
vocational  education  as  including  all  types  of  in- 
dustrial, commercial,  agricultural,  and  home-making 
schools,  between  the  upper  grammar  grades  and 
the  college,  whose  controlling  purpose  is  to  fit  for 
specific  profitable  employments  and  which  receive 
pupils  14  years  of  age  and  over. 

53 


54  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

President  Wilson  in  his  second  inaugural  mes- 
sage called  the  country's  attention  definitely  to 
the  fact  that  a  vocational-education  bill  was  before 
Congress  and  that  it  ought  to  receive  favorable 
consideration,  not  only  on  the  grounds  of  educa- 
tional advantages  contained  in  the  bill,  but  also 
on  the  grounds  that  it  fitted  in  with  a  national 
economic  and  industrial  policy. 

Perhaps  the  measure  would  have  met  the  fate 
of  its  predecessors  if  war  had  not  been  declared. 
Friends  of  the  measure  feared  lest  discussion 
incident  to  national  preparedness  should  over- 
shadow the  vocational-education  bill,  but  fortu- 
nately Congress  saw  that  vocational  education  and 
national  preparedness  were  linked  together,  and 
the  bill  passed  almost  unanimously. 

The  full  significance  of  the  Smith- Hughes  Bill, 
as  it  will  always  be  known  by  those  who  worked 
for  it,  can  hardly  be  appreciated.  On  the  surface 
it  merely  creates  a  Federal  Board  of  Vocational 
Education  and  provides  that  federal  grants  shall 
be  made  for  the  purpose  of  cooperating  with  the 
states  in  the  promotion  of  industrial,  agricultural, 
and  home-making  teaching.  But  if  we  scratch  the 
surface  we  shall  see  that  the  federal  money  is  not 
paid  to  local  communities  except  after  their  work 
has  been  approved  by  a  state  board  of  control  on 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  SCHOOLS       55 

the  basis  of  this  federal  act,  and  the  principles  and 
policies  which  were  adopted  after  conference  be- 
tween the  Federal  Board  and  the  state  boards  of 
control.  It  furthermore  limits  federal  aid  to  definite 
vocational  training  and  eliminates  all  aid  to  any 
dilettante  or  superficial  types  of  practical-arts  edu- 
cation which  do  not  meet  the  idea  of  preparing 
young  persons  over  14  years  of  age  for  useful  and 
profitable  employment  in  agriculture,  in  the  trades, 
in  industries,  or  in  home  economics.  It  has  been 
stated  in  preceding  chapters,  and  will  be  empha- 
sized more  than  once  in  succeeding  chapters, 
that  the  schools  which  are  able  to  serve  most 
effectively  in  time  of  war  are  the  schools  which 
are  serving  or  may  serve  in  times  of  peace.  It 
has  been  and  will  again  be  shown  that  school 
methods  usable  in  meeting  a  war  emergency  are 
the  methods  not  only  usable  but  desirable  under 
normal  conditions. 

There  is  absolutely  nothing  in  the  following 
discussion  of  the  field  for  war  service  for  indus- 
trial and  trade-school  education  which  does  not 
have  its  direct  application  in  promoting  and  ad- 
ministering a  national  system  of  vocational  edu- 
cation. Definite  suggestions  are  given  for  organiz- 
ing day-industrial,  trade,  part-time  and  continuation 
schools,   evening   vocational   schools,  trade    classes, 


56  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

and  off-time  courses ;  for  transferring  the  teaching 
equipment  into  the  factory;  for  transferring  the 
technical-supervision  equipment  of  the  factory  to 
the  school;  and  for  making  commercial  products.  It 
will  be  seen  that  the  service  of  our  industrial  and 
trade  schools  differs  from  the  service  of  the  in- 
dustrial and  household-arts  courses  in  the  regular 
schools.  A  comparison  of  what  is  suggested  for 
war  service  with  what  is  required  by  the  terms 
of  the  federal  grant  shows  that  the  two  are  in 
accord.  For  example,  the  latter  requires  that  all- 
day  industrial  schools  must  have  at  least  half  the 
time  given  over  to  the  actual  practice  of  a  vocation 
on  a  useful  or  productive  basis;  that  agricultural 
schools  shall  arrange  for  directed  or  supervised 
practice  in  agriculture  either  on  a  farm  provided 
by  the  school  or  on  other  farms  for  at  least  six 
months  a  year;  that  part-time  schools  or  classes 
must  be  established  if  the  state  and  the  com- 
munity expect  to  receive  the  full  benefits  of  the 
federal  grant  for  the  salaries  of  teachers  of  the 
trade,  home-economics,  and  industrial  subjects ;  and 
finally,  that  evening  classes  for  industrial  workers 
are  provided  in  which  the  instruction  is  required 
to  be  supplemental  to  the  daily  employment.  How- 
ever, for  the  duration  of  the  war,  at  least,  the  last 
requirement  needs  modification. 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  SCHOOLS       57 

War  preparedness  undoubtedly  influenced  Con- 
gress to  pass  the  Smith-Hughes  Bill.  War  service 
of  our  vocational  schools  will  undoubtedly  influ- 
ence the  vocational-education  movement  along  right 
lines  more  than  anything  else  which  could  possibly 
have  happened. 

Industrial  and  trade  schools  stand  ready  to 
make  their  contribution  for  war  service.  Some 
rather  unwisely,  and  certainly  unthinkingly,  sent 
telegrams  to  Washington,  offering  their  equipment 
to  the  government.  Others  said  that  they  would 
make  ammunition.  Still  others  announced  that 
they  would  wait  for  the  government  to  tell  them 
what  to  do.  In  the  early  stages  evidently  most  of 
them  forgot  that  their  chief,  if  not  only,  business 
must  be,  as  it  has  been,  that  of  training  recruits 
for  industry  or  giving  trade  extension  work  to  those 
already  in  a  chosen  vocation. 

Of  course  we  are  all  aware  that  new  tasks  of 
stupendous  proportions  are  being  undertaken  by 
the  country  as  measures  for  national  defense,  and 
that  while  a  large  army  is  being  recruited  and 
trained,  a  still  larger  army  is  being  drawn  into 
industrial  production  to  equip  and  support  the 
army  and  navy  directly  on  the  lines  of  defense. 
We  know  that  $600,000,000  has  been  appropri- 
ated for  aeroplane  construction;    that  from  50,000 


58  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

to  100,000  shipbuilders  are  needed  for  our  shipbuild- 
ing program  ;  that  tool-makers  and  gauge-makers 
are  needed  in  large  numbers;  that  the  govern- 
ment military  service  will  require  large  numbers 
of  mechanics  in  its  quartermaster's,  engineering, 
signal,  aviation,  and  navy  corps. 

In  other  words,  there  is  convincing  evidence  that 
there  are  bound  to  be  not  only  increased  demands 
for  labor  but  also  changes  in  the  relationship  of 
labor  demand  and  supply.  There  is  going  to  be 
an  enormous  increase  in  the  demand  for  specialist 
workers  in  metal,  and  considerable  increase  in  the 
call  for  skilled  all-round  workers  in  metal ;  a  ma- 
terial increase  in  the  demand  for  woodworkers 
in  shipyards ;  an  increase  in  demand  for  workers 
in  manufactured  clothing  and  army  equipment ;  a 
great  increase  in  demand  for  electrical  workers  in 
all  lines,  including  operators,  field  men,  telephone 
and  telegraph  service.  We  know  that  there  will  be 
a  demand  for  automobile  mechanics,  gas-engine  op- 
erators, plumbers,  horseshoers,  wheelwrights,  steam 
engineers,  bakers,  cement  workers,  and  gas  and 
steam  fitters.  It  is  probable  that  there  will  be  a 
diminution  in  the  demand  for  printers ;  for  women 
in  dressmaking,  millinery,  and  novelty  lines;  for 
laborers  on  public  works,  including  streets,  sewers, 
water  systems,  public  buildings,  canals,  and  bridges. 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  SCHOOLS       59 

In  short,  we  know  that  the  war  emergency  will 
create  an  extraordinary  demand  for  some  kinds  of 
labor,  attended  by  a  probable  diminution  of  demand 
for  other  kinds,  and  there  will  be  occasion  for  much 
shifting  of  labor  from  one  occupation  to  another. 
It  is  obvious,  furthermore,  that  many  readjustments 
must  be  made  by  public  and  private  industrial  and 
trade  schools  in  these  days  of  war  pressure. 

To  determine  what  adjustments  are  most  urgent, 
those  in  charge  of  these  schools  should  go  directly 
to  the  industries  and  confer  as  to  what  service  is 
the  most  desired.  It  is  practically  useless  to  wait 
for  industrial  managers  to  come  to  the  schools  for 
help.  In  many  cases  they  will  not  appreciate  the 
fact  that  the  schools  can  be  of  help.  If,  in  times 
of  peace,  industry  has  hardly  recognized  the  full 
possibilities  of  public  vocational  training,  it  is  not 
likely  that  it  would  recognize  it  in  the  stress  of 
increased  production.  Sir  Robert  Blair  of  London 
states  that  unless  the  educational  staff  of  England 
had  made  it  its  business  to  satisfy  the  manu- 
facturers that  it  could  train  semiskilled  workers, 
the  vocational-training  shops  would  have  been 
obliged  to  close  soon  after  the  war  started.  He 
states  that  in  the  earliest  days  of  the  work  of 
these  training  shops,  the  manufacturers  were  in- 
disposed to  believe  that  industry  had  anything  to 


6o  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

learn  from  trade  or  technical  schools.  The  manu- 
facturers said  that  these  schools  were  "academi- 
cally right  and  practically  wrong." 

What  industrial  and  trade  schools  can  do  for 
manufacturing  plants  will,  of  course,  vary  in  each 
community.  Each  manufacturing  center  has  its 
own  sets  of  activities.  Proper  military  authorities 
should  be  approached  by  administrators  of  indus- 
trial schools  to  determine  what  can  be  contributed 
toward  providing  the  training  which  is  needed. 
Letters  to  military  authorities  in  Washington  will 
not  bear  so  much  fruit  as  a  personal  visit  to  a 
local  recruiting  station,  camp,  or  cantonment  for 
definite  advice  as  to  how  schools  may  best  serve. 
It  is  expected,  however,  that  the  National  Board  of 
Vocational  Education  will  be  helpful  with  sugges- 
tive material. 

At  the  present  moment  the  most  effective  con- 
tact between  the  school  that  may  give  the  training 
and  the  place  that  needs  it  can  be  brought  about 
through  cooperation  either  with  cantonment  author- 
ities or  with  local  manufacturing  plants.  Industrial 
and  technical  schools  in  England  in  the  early  days 
of  the  war  formed  connections  with  government 
arsenals  and  began  the  manufacture  of  gauges  for 
shell-making,  mostly  of  the  inspection  type.  At  first 
the  technical  institutes  were  very  diffident  about 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  SCHOOLS       6i 

undertaking  the  work,  the  standard  of  skill  re- 
quired being  so  high;  but  after  a  few  appeals  on 
the  ground  that  it  was  a  great  opportunity  for 
trade  education  to  show  its  value,  the  institutions 
started  the  work,  so  that  there  are  now  something 
like  a  dozen  such  schools  working  on  the  manu- 
facture of  these  instruments.  It  is  to  be  understood 
that  the  majority  of  the  workers  thus  employed 
were  metal  workers  before  they  took  up  this  work. 
Others  were  manual-training  teachers  in  the  ele- 
mentary schools.  They  have  turned  out  approxi- 
mately 50,cxD0  inspection  gauges,  and  it  is  the 
opinion  in  England  that  the  trade  institutes  never 
undertook  a  better  work. 

In  general  terms  the  shortage  of  help  in  the 
industries  is  going  to  be  met  by  training  opera- 
tives selected  from  unskilled  workers;  by  training 
foremen  of  those  operatives  who  will  be  selected 
from  the  skilled  help;  and  by  training  highly 
skilled  specialists  who  will  be  selected  from  the 
workmen  already  skilled.  The  training  plan  in 
the  New  England  Westinghouse  plant  will  be 
interesting  in  this  connection.  In  this  ammunition 
plant  80  per  cent  of  the  workers  are  listed  as  opera- 
tors, the  majority  of  whom  are  trained  from  carefully 
selected  unskilled  labor.  To  train  these  operators 
skilled  machinists  are  employed  as  instructors.    One 


62  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

instructor  is  in  charge  of  a  group  averaging  about 
thirteen  men.  In  other  words,  7^  per  cent  of  the 
force  in  the  operating  departments  are  on  the 
instruction  staff  and  known  as  foremen,  Hnemen 
(set-up  men),  and  instructors.  Instruction  is  given 
incidentally  in  turning  out  the  regular  product. 
No  equipment  is  set  aside  primarily  for  instruction 
purposes ;  any  equipment  in  the  plant  may  be  thus 
used.  This  method  of  instruction  is  called  the 
group-instructor  plan,  in  which  one  instructor  or 
foreman  has  charge  of  teaching  a  group  of  opera- 
tors working  on  an  assigned  task.  While  under 
instruction  the  group  is  employed  on  regular 
production.  The  instructor  is  not  required  to  pro- 
duce, but  gives  his  entire  time  to  group  teaching. 
In  the  tool-making  department,  men  of  mechani- 
cal ability,  not  necessarily  all-round  machinists,  but 
in  some  instances  from  other  trades,  are  trained 
in  making  jigs  and  fixtures.  In  these  cases  the 
ratio  of  instructors  to  workers  is  less  than  one 
to  thirteen,  the  helper  plan  being  used.  The 
helper  plan  is  that  in  which  a  skilled  worker  is 
employed  in  special  work,  such  as  tool-making  or 
gauge-making,  and  has  under  him  from  one  to 
three  helpers.  In  this  case  the  man  who  gives  the 
training  does  not  confine  his  entire  efforts  to  in- 
struction, but  is  required  to  work  at  his  particular 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  SCHOOLS       63 

occupation.  If  satisfactory  results  are  to  be  secured, 
only  a  very  limited  number  of  helpers  can  be 
assigned  to  one  worker. 

The  industrial  schools  will  prove  to  be  a  small 
factor  in  training  operatives,  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  industry  itself  is  able  to  train  them  quickly 
and  satisfactorily.  It  takes  only  a  few  days  to 
make  a  Polish  farm  hand  of  Connecticut  into  an 
ammunition  worker  in  Bridgeport.  Foremen  and 
specialists  may  be  trained  through  evening  and 
day  part-time  courses.  Of  course  it  is  assumed 
that  these  schools  will  have  equipment  requisite 
for  training  in  the  kind  of  work  for  which  help 
is  needed.  The  Springfield  (Massachusetts)  Voca- 
tional School  expects  to  shift  some  of  its  pupils 
from  house  to  ship  carpentry  in  view  of  the  new 
demand  for  men  with  a  knowledge  of  shipbuilding, 
—  a  demand  which  will  extend,  undoubtedly,  over 
a  term  of  years. 

At  least,  one  way  for  a  trade  school  to  be  of 
service  and  yet  not  purchase  additional  equipment 
is  to  lend  its  skilled  instructors  to  a  local  manu- 
facturing plant  where  an  organized  plan  for  training 
foremen  and  specialists  exists.  This  has  been  done 
by  the  Quincy  (Massachusetts)  Industrial  School, 
which  cooperates  in  furnishing  part  of  the  instruc- 
tion given   in   the   Fore   River  shipbuilding  plant. 


64  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

This  company  is  giving  instruction  to  a  selected 
group  of  workers  under  pay  for  a  full  industrial 
day  of  ten  hours.  A  night  shift  of  training  for 
eleven  hours  is  also  given  to  another  group  of 
men.  Instructors  are  training  an  assigned  group 
of  operators  on  regular  production  and  under  usual 
employment  conditions.  Some  part-time  instruction 
in  technical  subjects,  and  in  some  cases  on  special 
operations,  is  also  given  to  certain  groups  of  selected 
workers  while  under  employment  in  the  plant.  This 
plan  has  a  significance  worthy  of  attention  after 
the  war. 

General  Manager  Smith  of  this  company,  at  a 
conference  of  state  administrators  of  vocational 
schools  held  the  middle  of  July  in  New  York  City, 
made  an  interesting  statement  as  to  the  need  of 
trained  help  in  the  shipyards.  A  summary  of  his 
remarks  follows :  ^ 

For  shipbuilding  purposes  men  trained  in  the  building 
trades  offer  little  advantage  over  intelligent  untrained  men, 
as  the  character  of  work  in  the  shipbuilding  industry  is  so 
different  from  that  in  the  building  trades. 

However,  industrial  and  trade  schools  can  give  prelimi- 
nary and  thorough  instruction  to  ship-fitters  and  loftsmen. 
The  course  for  the  latter  should  include  ship-drafting. 

1  Taken  from  bulletin  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of 
Industrial  Education,  for  August,  1917,  "War  Demands  for  Industrial 
Training." 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  SCHOOLS       65 

More  limited  instruction  can  be  given  in  other  ironworkers' 
trades  and  in  the  shipwright  trades. 

Trained  instructors  are  needed.  Instructors  may  be  em- 
ployed in  the  plant  and,  if  so,  should  have  full  power  to 
instruct  and  should  not  be  employed  on  production,  as  the 
best  results  in  instruction  can  only  be  obtained  by  having 
the  instructor  concentrate  his  mind  on  his  work. 

Shipbuilding  in  the  United  States  has  been  one  of  our 
smaller  industries.  If  the  present  crisis  is  to  be  adequately 
met,  the  industry  will  be  one  of  our  most  important  ones. 

Of  the  large  amount  of  money  to  be  spent  in  shipbuild- 
ing, practically  one  half  will  be  expended  on  labor  in  the 
shipyard ;  the  remainder  is  for  material  purchased  from  out- 
side parties,  but  which  at  the  works  of  such  subcontractors 
is  again  largely  labor.  Of  the  labor  expended  in  the  ship- 
yard about  one  third  is  for  ironworkers,  and  it  is  in  this 
trade  that  the  greatest  shortage  occurs,  as  there  is  only  a 
small  percentage  of  men  for  the  ironworkers'  trade  now  to 
be  found  in  this  country. 

In  the  past  very  little  instruction  in  the  specialized  ship- 
building trades  has  been  given  in  the  United  States,  and 
the  number  of  men  who  have  served  apprenticeship  in  these 
trades  is  small,  a  great  supply  of  skilled  men  in  these  trades 
coming  from  Great  Britain.  There  is  an  imperative  need 
for  a  supply  of  men  in  the  ironworkers'  trade. 

Some  instruction  must  always  be  given  in  the  ship- 
building plant,  but  it  is  possible  to  give  a  great  deal  in 
the  industrial  schools,  and,  as  the  wages  are  good,  men 
should  be  readily  attracted  to  the  shipbuilding  trades. 

While  ironworkers'  trades  consisting  of  loftsmen,  ship- 
fitters,  riveters,  chippers,  calkers,  reamers,  bolters,  packers, 


66  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

and  some  others  are  peculiar  to  shipbuilding  as  well  as 
the  shipwright's  trade,  the  trades  of  plumber,  pipe  fitter, 
coppersmith,  etc.  are  very  materially  different  in  the  ship- 
building trades  from  what  they  are  in  the  building  trades. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  possible  to  send  instruc- 
tors from  the  factories  to  the  school.  In  several 
instances  in  England  the  manufacturers  supplied 
the  schools  with  instructors  and  all  the  necessary 
material  in  order  to  teach  women  and  boys  the 
identical  operations  which  they  would  be  called 
upon  to  carry  out  in  the  factory.  In  this  way  a 
number  of  schools  combining  manufacturing  with 
training  were  able  to  supply  local  factories  with 
boys  and  women  trained  in  the  special  operations 
involved.  This  plan  is  also  significant  and  has 
an  important  bearing  upon  the  administration  of 
public  vocational   training. 

The  question  whether  industrial  schools  should 
make  ammunition  or  equipment  pertaining  to  war 
service  will  come  up.  Having  substantial  amounts 
of  available  equipment,  they  will  doubtless  at  times 
be  tempted  to  use  their  organized  day  and  evening 
classes  for  purposes  of  emergency  productive  work. 
In  machine-shop  schools,  for  example,  the  teachers 
being  skilled  machinists  and  the  pupils  capable 
of  turning  out  a  substantial  amount  of  productive 
work,  inducements  to  subordinate  educational  ends 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  SCHOOLS       67 

to  those  of  an  economic  nature  may  be  expected. 
It  is  therefore  suggested  that  industrial-school 
authorities  resolutely  resist  all  attempts  to  subor- 
dinate their  rightful  purpose  of  giving  industrial 
education.  It  is  clear  that  a  certain  amount  of 
production  is  necessary  for  purposes  of  education, 
but  it  is  important  that  this  should  never  be  made  a 
primary  purpose  in  any  industrial  school.  A  letter 
from  Director  W.  C.  Smith  of  the  Troy  (New  York) 
Central  School  illustrates  the  productive  work  of 
one  school  which  retains  educational  value. 

A  Troy  corporation  is  engaged  on  a  large  contract  with 
the  government  for  uniforms.  Its  shops  are  taxed  to  the 
limit,  and  it  has  found  it  necessary  to  utilize  every  avail- 
able shop  in  town  for  making  various  machines  used  in 
cutting  cloth  for  this  contract.  It  has  entered  into  an 
arrangement  whereby  our  complete  machine-shop  equip- 
ment is  turned  over  to  its  use  under  the  supervision  of 
our  own  instructor.  Our  graduate  boys  are  employed  in  the 
shop  and  are  now  at  work  perfecting  twelve  machines  for 
use  in  different  parts  of  the  country  on  this  contract. 

The  public  vocational  schools  must  face,  sooner 
or  later,  the  question  of  shop  production  on  a 
commercial  basis.  They  exist,  primarily,  to  train 
producers  and  not  to  make  products.  Are  the  two 
inconsistent.?  Perhaps  the  war  service  of  these 
schools  will  bring  this  debatable  issue  to  a  head. 


68  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

Obviously  the  industries  engaged  in  the  making 
of  automobiles,  aeroplanes,  machinery,  and  ammuni- 
tion have  for  some  time  past  absorbed  the  available 
supply  of  skilled  help.  With  the  emergency  of 
war  preparation  upon  us,  we  must  find  ways  of 
pressing  thousands  of  workers  into  lines  of  work 
with  which  they  are  almost  altogether  unfamiliar. 
Except  with  boys  who  are  fourteen  to  sixteen  years 
old,  it  will  be  of  little  avail  to  think  of  giving  all- 
round  trade  training.  The  labor  supply  which  we 
now  need  must  be  trained  immediately  and  inten- 
sively. From  what  has  already  been  stated  it  is 
clear  that  workers  may  be  trained  in  three  ways : 
first,  in  day  industrial  or  technical  schools;  second, 
in  industrial  plants  such  as  have  been  mentioned 
in  the  case  of  the  Westinghouse  Company;  third, 
through  part-time  employment  in  industry,  with  part- 
time  attendance  in  industrial  or  technical  schools. 

The  industrial-school  authorities  should  send  into 
the  factories  capable  instructors  who  have  had 
trade  experience,  in  order  to  learn  the  needs  for 
trained  help  and  to  analyze  the  trade  processes  for 
which  men  need  to  be  trained.  In  this  way  the 
school  may  determine  whether  it  can  best  meet  the 
situation  by  training  the  youth  in  its  day  schools  to 
go  to  work  in  industrial  plants  upon  leaving  school  — 
although  this  is  not  a  very  immediate  way  of  meeting 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  SCHOOLS       69 

the  emergency  —  or  whether  it  would  be  better  to 
move  the  classes,  so  to  speak,  over  to  the  plant 
and  have  the  instructors  teach  a  group  of  unskilled 
workers  on  the  group-instruction  plan.  Perhaps 
the  school  could  perform  its  best  service  by  giving 
trade  extension  courses  to  those  already  engaged 
in  productive  work.  Anyhow,  these  alternatives 
must  be  fully  considered. 

These  instructors  or  trained  experts,  when  visit- 
ing typical  yards  or  plants  in  a  specific  industry  to 
learn  of  the  needs  for  trained  help,  must  be  able  to 
reanalyze  the  trade  processes  in  terms  of  training 
as  distinct  from  terms  of  production,  and  out  of  this 
analysis  to  draw  up  suitable  schemes  for  giving 
such  training.  The  question  of  whether  this  train- 
ing should  be  given  entirely  in  the  school  or  entirely 
in  the  plant  or  partly  in  the  plant  and  partly  in  the 
school  should  be  left  to  experts,  who  know  best  the 
possibilities  of  each  of  these  schemes. 

This  is  no  time  for  industrial  schools  to  stand 
on  their  dignity  and  claim  that  they  can  do  all 
that  is  necessary  in  their  day  schools  without 
cooperation  with  those  who  employ.  It  is  readily 
granted  that,  generally  speaking,  directors  of  in- 
dustrial schools  know  their  job  quite  well  when 
it  comes  to  giving  trade-preparatory  training  to 
youth   before   it   enters    industry;    but   at   a   time 


70  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

when  the  country  needs  thousands  of  workmen  we 
are  quite  sure  that  the  better  plan  for  training 
operators  and  semiskilled  workers  is  directly  in  the 
plant  itself.  In  a  time  of  great  emergency  this  in- 
tensive, immediate  training  must  be  given  in  large 
part  by  the  industries  themselves  within  their  own 
plants.  They  have  the  equipment,  they  have  the 
men  who  need  the  training;  all  they  lack  is  the 
proper  instructing  force,  as  they  cannot  take  men 
away  from  production  for  instruction  purposes.  It 
follows  that  the  instructors  of  our  schools  must  give 
their  instruction  in  the  plants  or  must  have  the 
unskilled  operatives  and  helpers  come  to  the  school 
for  part-time  work. 

The  present  all-day  industrial  schools,  even  in 
normal  times,  need  this  direct  contact  with  industry 
to  save  themselves  from  shop  methods  which  savor 
of  manual-training  schools. 

It  is  assumed  that  the  regular  all-day  industrial 
and  trade  schools  will  continue.  Of  course  they 
are  now  largely  attended  by  comparatively  young 
students,  and  it  is  quite  likely  that  the  enrollment 
will  diminish,  as  there  is  an  unusual  demand  for 
boys  in  every  branch  of  industry  and  commerce. 
It  will  be  increasingly  difficult  to  hold  such  boys  in 
school  in  the  face  of  financial  returns  rather  extraor- 
dinary when  one  considers  their  youth. 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  SCHOOLS       71 

In  the  interests  of  conservation  of  youth  and  the 
training  of  a  suitable  supply  of  skilled  workers  for 
the  future,  there  should  be  no  diminution  of  effort 
to  develop  and  extend  day-school  work,  even  though 
the  young  people  thus  trained  will  be  too  young 
to  contribute  definitely  to  the  present  emergency, 
unless,  of  course,  it  should  last  more  than  a  year 
or  two.  Nevertheless,  the  enrollments  are  likely  to 
be  less.  A  partial  compensation  for  this  situation 
is  that  groups  of  more  mature  workers  coming 
from  the  industry  itself  on  a  part-time  basis  can  be 
accommodated  for  special  instruction,  or  groups  of 
young  men  who  are  now  elevator  boys,  messenger 
boys,  clerks  in  stores,  office  boys,  can  be  induced, 
perhaps,  to  come  to  the  all-day  school,  and  through 
short,  intensive  courses  be  put  into  the  way  of  earn- 
ing, in  some  factory  making  war  supplies,  a  sum 
equal  to  from  two  to  three  times  what  they  are  now 
earning.  No  attempt  should  be  made  to  hold  such 
youths  in  the  school  beyond  the  period  necessary  to 
give  them  immediate  and  intensive  training. 

After  the  war  it  will  be  an  open  question  whether 
intensive  courses  should  not  be  more  generally 
adopted  in  our  day  industrial  schools. 

Obviously  the  largest  immediate  service  that  can 
be  rendered  by  industrial  and  trade  schools  will  be 
through  the  readjustment  and  extension  of  evening 


72  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

and  other  off-time  courses.  As  usual,  the  espe- 
cially important  function  will  be  the  training  of 
men  already  in  the  trades  for  more  skilled  tasks  or 
for  directive  work.  Ways  must  be  found  for  extend- 
ing the  evening-school  facilities.  One  way  is  to 
operate  the  evening  courses  throughout  the  entire 
year.  Most  of  our  industrial  schools  operate  only 
from  October  to  April,  but  in  this  time  of  pressure 
they  should  be  open  continuously.  The  other  way 
would  be  to  carry  on  trade  extension  work  not  only 
in  the  evening  but  also  early  in  the  morning  or  late 
in  the  afternoon.  These  are  technically  known  as 
off-time  courses  and  came  into  existence  originally 
in  some  cities  which  made  provision  for  training 
workers  from  plants  operating  night  shifts. 

Fundamentally,  even  in  times  of  peace,  there 
is  no  sound  reason  for  ever  completely  closing  a 
day  industrial  school.  It  might  run  during  the 
summer  as  well  as  the  winter;  in  the  late  after- 
noon and  early  morning  as  well  as  in  the  evening. 
In  the  middle  of  June,  191 7,  President  Wilson  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  Secretary  Redfield  making  the 
suggestion  that  the  vocational-training  schools  of 
the  country  should  be  open  during  the  summer, 
when  it  would  be  possible  to  train  a  large  number 
of  young  men  under  military  age,  either  to  fill  the 
places   in   our   industries   left   by  men    who  enlist 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  SCHOOLS       73 

or  are  withdrawn  for  military  service,  or  to  carry 
on  special  occupations  called  for  by  the  war,  such 
as  inspectors  of  material  and  apparatus.  In  this 
connection,  where  the  President  speaks  of  "  inspec- 
tors of  material,"  it  may  be  said  that  one  of 
the  prominent  industrial-education  experts  of  the 
East  has  been  asked  to  train  a  group  of  men 
selected  for  special  government  inspection  work. 
These  men  will  then  be  responsible  for  organiz- 
ing a  force  of  assistant  inspectors  in  the  plant  to 
which  they  are  assigned,  and  of  supervising  the 
work  of  the  assistant  inspector  under  their  personal 
direction. 

The  course  of  inspectorship  training  is  made  up  of  two 
units :  one  dealing  with  the  business  and  accounting  side  of 
inspection  and  the  other  with  the  technical  instruction  which 
is  given  through  participation  in  the  actual  work  of  inspection 
at  the  arsenal,  observation  of  the  manufacturing  processes, 
and  direct  group  instruction. 

The  first  unit  is  given  at  Washington  and  usually  requires 
from  four  or  five  days  to  a  week  for  its  completion.  The 
second  unit  is  given  at  the  Rock  Island  arsenal  and  covers 
eleven  days  as  a  minimum.  Only  the  most  experienced  men, 
however,  complete  it  in  this  length  of  time.  The  men  enter 
the  school  at  irregular  intervals  in  groups  of  four  or  five  at 
a  time.  The  number  in  training  at  any  one  time  varies 
from  thirty-five  to  fifty. 

The  men  are  moved  from  department  to  department  on 
a  fixed  schedule.    When  a  man  completes  his  training  he  is 


74  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

assigned  to  a  plant  in  accordance  with  his  quaHfications  as 
indicated  by  his  previous  experience  and  his  record  at  the 
school.  Further  plans  for  training  the  inspector  after  he  has 
been  assigned  to  the  field  have  been  proposed  but  have  not 
yet  been  put  into  effect.  Many  of  the  candidates  for  this 
training  are  instructors  in  vocational  training,^ 

The  opportunity  for  promotion  of  skilled  w^orkers 
was  never  so  great  as  at  present,  and  the  oppor- 
tunity for  schools  to  train  them  will  never  be 
greater  than  at  present.  The  schools  may  well 
organize  intensive  short  courses  in  practical  train- 
ing, as  well  as  other  courses  designed  to  advance 
qualified  workers  to  positions  of  directive  work  in 
the  factories. 

While  the  part-time  plan  offers  excellent  oppor- 
tunities for  advancing  selected  workers  in  order 
that  they  may  acquire  certain  technical  knowledge, 
it  is  doubtful  whether  much  of  this  work  during 
this  emergency  period  can  be  done  in  the  public  or 
private  industrial  and  trade  schools.  We  all  know 
that  certain  industrial  concerns  have  established 
part-time  schools  in  their  plants.  These  classes  in 
the  works  are  especially  adapted,  in  the  present 
emergency,  for  training  selected  workers  to  be- 
come specialists  and  foremen.    If  the  school  is  near 

1 "  Vocational  Education  and  Government  Service,"  News-letter  issued  by 
National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education,  October,  191 7.. 


War  needs  open  new  fields  for  schools.    After  the  war,  stereotyped  courses 

in  trade  schools  and  technical  institutes  will  have  lost  their  hold.    Uunwoody 

Institute   (Minneapolis,   Minnesota)   is  one   of  the  few   schools  having  a 

training  course  for  bakers 


An   example   of  an   effective    adaptation  to    a   national   need.     Dunwoody 
Institute  meeting  a  shortage  of  army  bakers 


Kclucational  efficiency  as  measured  by  its  response  to  a  national  need.    Dun- 
woody  Institute  is  one  of  the  several  institutes  teaching  radiography  and 
power  testing  to  navy  men 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  SCHOOLS       75 

the  plant,  so  that  industrial  workers  can  attend  for 
part-time  day  instruction  for  a  period  of  six  or 
eight  hours  a  week  without  loss  of  time  or  without 
interfering  with  production,  it  may  be  possible  to 
develop  some  part-time  courses  in  the  schools,  but, 
generally  speaking,  it  would  be  better  for  the  in- 
structors in  these  schools  to  go  directly  to  the 
plants  themselves  and  give  this  part-time  instruction 
there.  In  another  chapter  mention  will  be  made  of 
a  feasible  part-time  system  and  the  necessity  for 
some  such  system,  but  it  refers  only  to  boys  and 
girls  between  fourteen  and  sixteen  years  old  who 
belong  primarily  in  school  and  not  primarily  at 
work.  It  is  assumed  that  the  group  of  which  we 
have  been  thinking  is  the  older  group  of  workmen 
who  wish  to  become  foremen. 

Sir  Robert  Blair,  in  his  report  already  referred 
to,  speaks  of  the  manner  in  which  technical  and 
trade  schools  in  and  about  London  train  semi- 
skilled workers  for  munition  work. 

At  first  we  gathered  together  all  the  metal-working  ap- 
paratus of  our  elementary  schools  and  placed  it  in  two  of 
our  technical  institutes.  Shafting  was  put  up,  power  was 
installed  and  the  lathes  started,  and  they  have  been  run- 
ning ever  since  July,  191 5,  for  twelve  hours  a  day  in  three 
periods  of  four  hours  each.  At  first  the  period  of  training 
was  for  one  period  a  day  for  six  days  a  week  for  six  weeks, 


76  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

or  a  total  of  144  hours,  but  later,  to  meet  the  demands,  the 
manufacturers  took  upon  themselves  the  training  of  more 
highly  skilled  turners,  of  machine  erectors,  of  milling- 
machine  hands,  and  so  on.  We  began  to  train  women  for 
tracing  in  drawing  offices  and  subsequently  for  mechanical 
drawing.  We  trained  lead-burners  for  employment  in  fac- 
tories making  explosives.  We  trained  gauge-makers  for  em- 
ployment in  tool  rooms  of  our  shell  factories  (many  of  these 
men  have  been  drawn  from  the  jewelry  and  silversmithing 
trades).  The  more  skill  we  gave  the  training,  the  longer  it 
took  to  train  these  people,  and  so  the  number  produced 
weekly  has  diminished,  but  in  two  years  we  have  trained, 
certified,  and  placed  6000  workers. 

And  again  he  speaks  of  other  training  apart  from 
furnishing  additional  munition  workers. 

One  institution  has  done  a  great  deal  of  work  in  train- 
ing in  cold  shoeing  over  1000  men  belonging  to  the  Royal 
Field  Artillery,  Royal  Engineers,  and  the  Army  Service 
Corps.  The  same  institution  has  also  been  used  for  the 
reception,  inspection,  and  dispatch  of  many  of  the  horse- 
shoes required  by  the  army.  At  another  institution  over 
3500  students  have  been  trained  for  Red  Cross  duties,  and  a 
great  work  has  been  done  in  recruiting  men  for  the  skilled 
sections  of  the  Royal  Flying  Corps.  Besides  we  have  trained 
men  for  tinsmithing,  copper  work,  and  wireless  telegraphy. 
A  third  institution  took  on  the  general  direction  of  the  prep- 
aration of  synthetic  drugs  in  the  chemical  departments  of  the 
technical  institutes,  and  the  medical  organization  of  the  army 
was  largely  indebted  to  these  chemical  departments  for  the 
production  of  the  much-needed  drugs. 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  SCHOOLS       'j'] 

Assuming  that  administrators  of  industrial  edu- 
cation are  interested  in  the  welfare  of  factory 
workers,  —  something  often  apart  from  instilling 
technical  skill  and  knowledge,  —  it  will  be  neces- 
sary for  them  to  provide  courses  for  men  and 
especially  for  women  workers,  giving  instruction 
in  the  laws  of  health  with  which  every  employee 
in  factory  life  should  be  familiar.  In  England  the 
memoranda  of  the  British  Health  of  Munition 
Workers  Committee  have  demonstrated  conclu- 
sively the  great  necessity  of  this  teaching  of 
hygiene :  that  the  causes  of  ill  health  of  workers  in 
munitions  factories  were  not  alone  the  result  of 
fatigue  from  long  hours,  but  quite  as  much  the 
result  of  insufficient  or  ill-prepared  food,  inadequate 
sleep  and  ill-ventilated  sleeping  quarters,  and  failure 
to  appreciate  the  consequences  of  disregarding 
safety  devices. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  in  this  chapter  to  say  a 
word  about  our  government  naval  schools,  for 
some  may  not  be  aware  that  the  government  has 
for  a  number  of  years  been  maintaining  a  very 
efficient  system  of  trade  education.  The  purpose 
of  the  naval  trade  schools  is  to  train  young  men 
for  various  trades  or  occupations  required  on  ship- 
board. In  going  over  the  list  it  is  likely  that 
administrators  of  industrial  education  will   see  an 


78  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

opportunity  to  connect  the  work  of  their  schools 
with  the  work  of  the  naval  schools.  In  addition  to 
the  practical  instruction  given  at  the  training  sta- 
tions where  these  schools  are  located,  a  course  of 
academic  instruction  is  conducted  throughout  the 
naval  service.  This  instruction  does  not  stop  at 
the  training  station,  but  continues  on  shipboard, 
and  every  encouragement  is  given  for  advancement. 
Electrical  schools  are  located  at  the  Brooklyn  Navy 
Yard  and  at  Mare  Island,  California.  The  course  of 
instruction  comprises  machine-shop  work,  reciprocat- 
ing steam  engines,  steam-turbine  engines,  internal- 
combustion  engines,  magnetism  and  electricity, 
dynamos,  motors,  motor  generators,  alternating- 
current  batteries,  etc.  Members  of  the  radio  class 
are  trained  in  the  duties  of  a  radio  operator  and  are 
given  constant  practice  in  the  use  of  the  mechanism 
employed  in  recovering  and  sending  messages. 

The  artificer  school  is  located  at  the  Norfolk 
Navy  Yard,  and  is  composed  of  classes  for  ship- 
wrights, ship-fitters,  blacksmiths,  and  painters. 

The  machinist  and  coppersmith  schools  are  lo- 
cated at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  are  open 
only  to  reenlisted  men  who  have  certain  experience. 

The  aeronautics  school  is  located  at  Pensacola, 
Florida,  and  is  divided  into  two  courses :  mechanics 
of  aeronautics,  and  flying. 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  TRADE  SCHOOLS       79 

Gasoline-engine  instruction  is  given  at  Charles- 
town  Navy  Yard  in  connection  with  the  machinist's 
school,  preference  being  given  to  reenlisted  men. 

Commissary  schools  for  ships'  cooks,  bakers,  and 
stewards  are  located  at  San  Francisco  and  Newport. 

Musicians'  schools  are  maintained  at  Norfolk, 
at  Great  Lake,  Illinois,  and  at  San  Francisco. 

Seaman-gunner  schools  are  located  at  the  Wash- 
ington Navy  Yard  and  at  the  torpedo  station  at 
Newport. 

All  of  these  schools  give  short,  intensive  courses 
ranging  from  three  to  eighteen  months  in  length. 
The  students  are  paid  wages,  and  all  expenses  are 
met  the  same  as  with  other  enlisted  men. 

Seven  free  marine-engineering  schools  and  thirty 
free  navigation  schools  are  being  started  on  the 
Atlantic,  Gulf,  Pacific,  and  Great  Lakes  coasts  to 
train  men  already  having  some  experience  for  bet- 
ter places  at  advanced  pay  as  engineers  and  deck 
oflficers  in  the  new  merchant  fleet.  The  graduates 
are  being  placed  as  fast  as  they  are  graduated. 
The  need  for  their  services  is  expected  to  last  for 
many  years  after  peace  is  restored. 

For  several  years  our  industrial  continuation 
schools  have  had  as  their  motto  "  Earn  and  Learn." 
But  the  naval  technical  schools  have  shown  a  way 
whereby  young  men  may  both  serve  and  learn. 


CHAPTER  IV 
OUR  COLLEGES  AND  TECHNICAL  INSTITUTES 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  if  we  can  realize,  as  England 
did  not,  that  education,  to  quote  Arnold  Bennett, 
"  is  the  very  last  thing  that  we  ought  to  economize 
in,"  we  shall  spare  ourselves  some  of  the  unnecessary 
calamities  of  war.  England,  France,  Italy,  and  the 
Central  Powers  have  thrown  into  battle  a  very  large 
percentage  of  their  educated  and  trained  men,  in- 
cluding most  of  the  young  professors  and  instructors 
in  their  universities  and  colleges,  gymnasiums,  and 
lycees.  Their  colleges  and  universities  are  almost 
empty.  The  young  men  who  would  under  normal 
conditions  be  receiving  the  education  and  training 
necessary  to  prepare  them  for  leadership  in  the 
future  development  of  these  countries  are  fighting 
and  dying  in  the  trenches. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  all  of  these  countries 
must  needs  go  through  a  long  period  of  reconstruc- 
tion, industrial  and  otherwise,  it  is  a  pity  that  the 
sacrifice  of  its  best  youth  had  needlessly  to  be  made. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  see  now  that  no  university, 

college,  or  technical  school  that  can  possibly  avoid  it 

80 


COLLEGES;   TECHNICAL  INSTITUTES       8i 

should  permit  its  faculty  or  student  body  to  be 
scattered  or  its  energies  dissipated.  All  concerned 
should  redouble  their  energies  and  concentrate 
them  upon  those  things  which  will  be  of  the  most 
service  in  the  progress  of  the  war  and  will  prepare 
the  students  for  the  most  effective  service  when 
the  war  is  over. 

President  Wilson,  three  months  after  the  severing 
of  relations  with  Germany,  in  response  to  a  request 
for  an  opinion  on  the  continuance  of  a  college  or  a 
technical-school  education  during  the  war,  wrote 
this  letter : 

The  question  which  you  have  brought  to  my  attention  is 
of  the  very  greatest  moment.  It  would,  as  you  suggest, 
seriously  impair  American  prospects  of  success  in  this  war 
if  the  supply  of  highly  trained  men  were  unnecessarily 
diminished.  There  will  be  need  for  a  larger  number  of 
persons  expert  in  the  various  fields  of  applied  science  than 
ever  before.  Such  persons  will  be  needed  both  during  the 
war  and  after  its  close. 

I  have  therefore  no  hesitation  in  urging  colleges  and 
technical  schools  to  endeavor  to  maintain  their  courses  as 
far  as  possible  on  the  usual  basis.  There  will  be  many 
young  men  from  these  institutions  who  will  serve  in  the 
armed  forces  of  the  country.  Those  who  fall  below  the  age 
of  selective  conscription  and  who  do  not  enlist  may  feel 
that  by  pursuing  their  courses  with  earnestness  and  diligence 
they  also  are  preparing  themselves  for  valuable  service  to 
the  nation. 


82  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

I  would  particularly  urge  upon  the  young  people  who  are 
leaving  our  high  schools  that  as  many  of  them  as  can  do  so 
avail  themselves  this  year  of  the  opportunities  offered  by 
the  colleges  and  technical  schools,  to  the  end  that  the 
country  may  not  lack  an  adequate  supply  of  trained  men 
and  women. 

It  must  be  said  that  while  students  were  restless 
and  anxious  to  perform  a  service,  the  college  author- 
ities themselves  adopted  a  very  hopeless  and  helpless 
attitude  toward  the  war  in  so  far  as  it  reacted  on  the 
internal  economy  of  these  institutions.  Commence- 
ment exercises  were  abbreviated  and  shorn  of  their 
customary  festivities.  College  presidents  and  execu- 
tive committees  of  alumni  associations  began  to 
"  talk  poor  "  and  to  wax  lugubrious  over  the  small 
senior  class  of  1918.  These  men  even  wanted  to 
drop  athletics,  which,  to  the  facetious  layman  outside, 
constitutes  the  main  reason  for  a  college's  existence. 
The  general  action  of  the  colleges  in  this  matter  of 
abandoning  so  many  athletic  and  other  activities 
drew  from  President  Wilson  a  letter  deprecating 
such  action  and  advising  that  the  colleges  main- 
tain all  their  usual  sports  if  they  did  not  detract  in 
any  way  from  the  military  purpose  of  the  nation. 
In  an  address  at  Princeton  University,  Major 
General  Wood  deplored  hasty  action  of  students  in 
enlisting  for  service  in  the  army  and  navy,  urging 


COLLEGES;   TECHNICAL  INSTITUTES       83 

them  to  complete  their  school  work  for  the  year, 
and  that  they  mark  time  pending  the  carrying  out 
of  provisions  of  the  selective-draft  law. 

It  is  clear,  on  one  hand,  that  many  college  author- 
ities, especially  those  of  the  older  type,  passed 
through  a  state  of  academic  institutional  hysteria, 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  their  student  bodies  trans- 
lated the  emotions  of  the  moment  into  a  deep 
conviction   by  enlisting. 

At  the  same  time  the  spirit  of  mobilization  was 
present  in  many  a  university,  college,  and  technical 
school.  In  the  cultural  college  it  was  the  individual 
who  enlisted,  as  the  institution  was  not  of  the  type 
whose  work  directly  and  definitely  counted  for 
important  war  service.  In  the  universities  where 
courses  are  given  in  agriculture,  in  medicine,  in 
technology,  and  in  practical  arts,  the  institution  itself 
enlisted,  in  that  it  offered  war-emergency  courses. 

It  is  perhaps  interesting  at  this  point  to  see  how 
response  came  from  these  two  types  of  institutions. 
In  the  first  instance  it  came  from  individuals  in  the 
college,  which  was  no  more  than  could  be  expected 
of  classical  colleges,  which  have  for  years  laid 
emphasis  on  the  benefits  of  individualistic  training. 
In  the  second  instance  the  vocational  colleges,  as 
they  are  sometimes  disparagingly  called,  responded 
from    the    viewpoint   of   collectivism ;    that    is,    the 


84  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

college  as  a  whole,  because  of  its  service  depart- 
ments, was  able  to  offer  to  the  state  and  to  the 
nation  a  course  of  training  of  immediate  military 
value  to  the  country. 

But  thoughtful  people  can  never  again  speak 
disparagingly  of  any  university  or  technical  school. 
While  the  movies  have  been  filled  with  the  citi- 
zens of  our  democracy,  and  the  cafes  crowded  with 
people  to  whom  war  was  something  apart  from 
existence,  and  the  white-light  gayety  of  the  streets 
has  been  apparently  undimmed,  the  youth  of  our 
colleges  —  the  best  youth  in  the  world  —  have  en- 
listed in  Plattsburgs,  joined  the  Naval  Reserves, 
taken  up  signal-corps  work,  entered  the  research 
laboratory,  followed  their  instructors  into  the  med- 
ical corps,  joined  a  school  of  aeronautics,  or  donned 
overalls   in  the  shipyards. 

Doctor  Finley,  Commissioner  of  Education  of 
the  state  of  New  York,  in  an  address  delivered 
before  the  Illinois  chapter  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa, 
speaks  of  his  visit  to  Oxford  just  before  the  war 
and  of  a  visit  to  Cambridge,  England,  a  few  weeks 
after  it  had  begun.  At  Oxford  he  found  the  calm 
of  the  cloister,  with  its  memorials  of  poets,  scholars, 
statesmen,  princes,  and  soldiers,  where  there  were 
ancient  academic  conventions  that  paid  no  heed 
to  the  passing  customs  of  the  world  outside.    Only 


COLLEGES  ;  TECHNICAL  INSTITUTES        85 

six  weeks  later  at  Cambridge  —  a  Cambridge 
which  had  a  month  or  six  weeks  before  been  as 
Oxford  —  the  town  was  filled  with  men  in  khaki. 
In  this  charming  address  Doctor  Finley  speaks 
of  a  portrait  of  Samuel  Butler  which  he  saw  at 
Cambridge,  —  a  portrait  of  the  man  who  described 
in  his  book  "  Erewhon "  a  land  where  criminals 
were  treated  as  sick,  and  the  sick  as  criminals; 
where  there  were  "  Colleges  of  Unreason,"  colleges 
in  which  students  were  promoted  for  excellence  in 
vagueness  and  were  plucked  for  insufficient  trust 
in  printed  matter,  colleges  where  the  principal 
courses  were  those  in  hypothetics,  colleges  in 
which  mediocrity  was  fostered,  colleges  whose 
graduates  almost  invariably  suffered  from  atrophy 
of  individual  opinions.  And  Doctor  Finley  says 
that  as  he  stood  before  this  portrait,  in  a  hall 
almost  deserted,  he  thought  of  those  students  of 
courses  which  Butler  had  called  "  hypothetical "  and 
"  atrophying,"  who  had  gone  forth  to  prove  the 
valor  of  their  cloistered  and  unpractical  learning. 
The  university  which  apparently  had  paid  no 
heed  to  the  passing  customs  of  the  world  outside 
had  now  mobilized  herself;  and  this  has  been  true 
of  the  colleges  and  technical  schools  of  our  own 
country,  —  truly  a  mobilization  of  the  spirit  of  sud- 
den forgetting  of  self-concerns  for  a  selfless  service. 


86  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

The  college  of  individualism,  as  has  already 
been  suggested,  mobilized  through  its  individuals, 
while  the  college  of  service  mobilized  itself.  In 
the  spring  of  191 7  I  happened  to  be  in  a  West- 
ern university.  The  campus  was  practically  de- 
serted. Instructors  in  foreign  languages  had  joined 
the  government  interpreters'  service ;  some  of  the 
professors  of  science  had  gone  to  government  re- 
search laboratories,  while  a  chosen  few  were  off 
in  some  secret  place  working  under  government 
direction  in  scientific  research  concerning  subma- 
rine warfare.  The  older  students  had  enlisted,  and 
the  younger  ones  were  marching  in  squads  on 
the  athletic  field.  Truly  a  mobilization,  but  largely 
individualistic. 

I  came  East  to  another  college  where  more 
than  2000  students  were  devoting  their  time  to 
a  series  of  special  short  courses  dealing  with  the 
various  problems  of  an  educational,  social,  and 
practical  nature  which  the  war  had  thrust  upon  the 
country.  In  this  way  the  institution  —  Teachers 
College,  Columbia  University — had  mobilized  itself. 
Special  arrangements  had  been  made  by  the  col- 
lege authorities  whereby  all  but  a  very  few  students 
could  participate  in  these  emergency  courses  with- 
out seriously  deranging  their  regular  courses. 

In  general,  the  aim  of  these  emergency  courses 


COLLEGES;  TECHNICAL  INSTITUTES        Sy 

was  not  merely  to  meet  those  conditions  which 
exist  at  or  near  the  battle  line  but  to  help  in  the 
solution  of  the  hundred  and  one  urgent  problems 
which  must  be  solved  by  that  great  majority  of 
teachers  and  social  workers  whose  service  will 
of  necessity  be  given  in  home  communities.  Ac- 
cordingly, courses  on  social  relief  were  offered,  and 
among  others  the  following  topics  were  considered : 
"  Administration  of  relief  in  time  of  war  and  emer- 
gency," "  Care  of  orphaned  and  neglected  children." 
Under  the  organization  of  rural  communities  were 
discussed  "  Conserving  the  food  supply,"  "  The 
health  problem  of  the  rural  community,"  and  "  The 
organization  of  school  pupils  for  agricultural  serv- 
ice." The  matter  of  social  service  in  military 
camps  was  thoroughly  gone  into  and  reports  and  lec- 
tures were  given  by  men  who  had  actually  worked 
with  the  soldiers  themselves.  The  Boy  Scout  and 
Camp  Fire  Girl  movements  were  also  discussed  in 
special  courses,  and  the  practical  questions  of  the 
amateur  gardener  were  carefully  considered. 

In  the  School  of  Practical  Arts  special  attention 
was  given  to  the  making  of  children's  garments, 
the  sewing  of  Red  Cross  material,  and  the  reno- 
vating of  millinery  and  clothing.  In  addition  to 
lectures  on  thrift  in  food  the  department  of  cook- 
ery gave  a  course  on  emergency  cookery  for  men, 


88  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

which  was  especially  designed  for  army  cooks  and 
Boy  Scout  leaders.  There  was  also  a  series  of  lec- 
tures and  demonstrations  by  a  government  expert 
on  the  preservation  of  food,  including  canning  and 
drying.  Other  courses  considered  the  essentials  of 
diet  planning  and  of  how  to  buy  in  large  quantities 
for  camps  and  hospitals.  The  departments  of  chem- 
istry and  biology  gave  special  instruction  in  the 
analysis  of  water  and  of  milk,  and  in  the  tech- 
nique of  diagnostic  bacteriology.  The  fine-arts 
department  made  some  rather  unique  contribu- 
tions, including  a  study  of  protective  coloring  with 
reference  to  ca^noufiage  for  military  purposes,  the 
designing  of  posters,  and  topographical  sketching. 
There  was  a  course  on  tin-can  work  for  home 
and  camp,  in  which,  from  discarded  tomato  cans 
and  powder  boxes,  were  produced  all  sorts  of 
useful  things  —  coffee  pots,  camp  stoves,  hot-water 
bottles,  lanterns,  and  candlesticks.  A  special  course 
in  photography  for  hospital  and  field  work  was 
offered.  In  the  modeling  class  the  manipulation  of 
plaster  of  Paris  was  demonstrated  for  nurses  and 
Red  Cross  students,  to  be  used  in  connection  with 
occupational  work  for  convalescent  soldiers.  An 
extremely  interesting  series  of  projects  in  plastic 
material  was  worked  up,  particularly  some  clay 
models  of  trenches  and  dugouts. 


COLLEGES;  TECHNICAL  INSTITUTES        89 

Another  .course  which  attracted  some  hundred 
and  fifty  students  was  the  emergency  instruction 
given  by  the  physics  department  in  automobile 
mechanics.  The  object  of  the  instruction  was  to 
equip  the  average  student  with  a  stock  of  general 
information  that  would  enable  him  to  operate  a 
car,  to  make  minor  repairs,  and  to  diagnose 
trouble  intelligently.  Some  of  the  matters  dis- 
cussed were  the  four-cycle  engine,  carburetion, 
transmission  and  differential,  and  the  storage 
battery.  For  experiment  and  demonstration  pur- 
poses the  laboratory  was  supplied,  among  other 
apparatus,  with  a  detachable  boat  motor  and  two 
automobiles.  The  latter  were  thoroughly  dissected 
and  then  reassembled  from  spark  plug  to  tires,  and 
in  every  possible  way  the  mechanism  was  examined 
and  experimented  with. 

The  departments  of  nursing  and  health  and  of 
physical  education  offered  some  ten  courses  in 
all,  including  home  nursing  and  emergencies,  sur- 
gical dressings,  care  of  children,  public-health  prob- 
lems, first  aid,  medical  gymnastics,  and  invalid 
occupations. 

The  department  of  music  offered  three  courses 
designed  especially  to  prepare  students  to  lead 
music  appropriate  to  patriotic  meetings  and  to 
present  selections  at  hospitals  and  camps. 


90  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

Two  courses  were  offered  by  the  department 
of  speech:  one  planned  for  those  intending  to  do 
emergency  speaking  and  lecturing,  and  the  other 
arranged  to  meet  the  demand  for  entertainment 
for  little  children,  the  sick,  and  soldiers  during 
the  war. 

In  addition  to  these  technical  courses  there  was 
a  series  of  lectures  on  economic  problems  con- 
tributed by  various  Columbia  experts,  and  another 
series  of  special  lectures  by  such  speakers  as 
Mr.  Joseph  McCabe,  the  noted  English  author, 
and  Mr.  Frederick  C.  Wolcott,  director  of  the 
Polish  War  Relief  Commission.  Finally,  there 
was  a  wonderful  and  never-to-be-forgotten  address 
by  Ignace  Paderewski,  in  which  he  reviewed  the 
long  and  troubled  story  of  his  native  land  and  in 
impassioned  words  pleaded  for  the  restoration  of 
Poland's  ancient  liberties. 

It  may  be  said  without  exaggeration  that  in  all 
some  millions  of  people  throughout  the  United 
States  will,  directly  and  indirectly,  profit  by  this 
emergency  instruction  at  Teachers  College,  for  the 
students  who  attended  are  for  the  most  part  ex- 
perienced teachers,  who,  in  their  turn,  will  organize 
and  instruct  their  home  communities  in  similar 
preparedness  courses. 

At  the  same  time  another  university,  unique  in 


COLLEGES;   TECHNICAL  INSTITUTES       91 

its  way,  —  the  University  of  the  State  of  New 
York, — was  holding,  through  its  Board  of  Regents, 
a  meeting  to  determine  academic  standards  of  the 
schools  and  colleges  of  the  state  in  a  war  crisis. 
This  university  was  modeled  upon  the  University 
of  France,  the  constituent  units  of  which  have 
proved  themselves  wonderful  instruments  in  the 
waging  of  war.  The  universities  represented  have 
organized  themselves  into  a  civil  army,  preventing 
the  wastes  of  duplication,  misdirected  endeavor, 
and  isolation  so  common  everywhere. 

In  the  building  where  the  Board  of  Regents  met, 
two  conferences  were  being  held,  one  representing 
the  schools  and  colleges  of  the  state,  the  other  rep- 
resenting the  agricultural  and  industrial  interests. 
In  one  place  men  were  discussing  how  the  aca- 
demic status  of  professional  schools  and  colleges 
might  be  maintained,  and  in  another  room  men 
and  women  were  participating  in  a  discussion  of 
public  markets,  food  conservation,  services  of  agri- 
cultural teachers,  the  taking  of  an  agricultural  cen- 
sus, the  releasing  of  boys  from  school,  the  organizing 
of  canning  clubs,  and  all  those  affairs  of  the  state 
and  its  schools  which  might  contribute  to  the 
nation's  welfare.  These  two  meetings  offered  a 
picture  of  two  lines  of  work  which  must  always 
go  together  in  time  of  war. 


92  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

As  Commissioner  Claxton  has  said: 

Students  should  be  made  to  understand  that  it  is  their 
duty  to  give  to  their  country  and  to  the  world  the  best  and 
fullest  possible  measure  of  service,  for  both  country  and 
world  will  need  more  than  they  will  get  of  that  high  type 
of  service  which  only  men  and  women  of  the  best  educa- 
tion and  training  can  give.  Patriotism  and  desire  to  serve 
humanity  may  require  of  these  young  men  and  women 
the  exercise  of  that  very  high  type  of  self-restraint  which 
will  keep  them  to  their  tasks  of  preparation  until  the  time 
comes  when  they  can  render  service  which  cannot  be  rendered 
by  others. 

On  the  other  hand,  these  same  colleges  and 
schools  must  contribute  out  of  themselves  that 
important  vocational  service  so  necessary  in  time 
of  war,  and  the  gathering  at  this  meeting  of  agri- 
cultural and  household-arts  teachers,  of  farm-bureau 
men  and  county  agents,  of  representatives  from 
granges  and  women's  clubs,  of  bankers,  and  of 
publicists  was  after  all  typical  of  the  other  half  of 
the  university  or  school  contribution. 

At  this  meeting  of  the  Regents  the  following 
resolutions  were  adopted  on  the  recommendation 
of  the  administrators  of  schools  and  colleges  who 
were  in  conference  with  the  Regents.  These  reso- 
lutions are  given  in  full  because  they  express  sig- 
nificantly the  point  of  view  of  the  36  colleges  and 
964  secondaiy  schools  in  New  York  State. 


COLLEGES;   TECHNICAL  INSTITUTES       93 

1.  Realizing  that  one  of  the  most  urgent  needs  of  the 
country  in  the  present  crisis  will  be  the  training  of  officers 
for  military  service,  and  that  it  is  the  peculiar  duty  of  colleges 
and  universities  to  contribute  in  supplying  this  need,  we 
recommend  that  the  several  colleges  and  universities  in  the 
state  establish  one  or  more  units  of  the  Reserve  Officers 
Training  Corps,  as  provided  in  general  order  No.  49,  in- 
cluding courses  leading  at  the  same  time  to  a  commission 
and  to  a  college  degree. 

2.  In  order  that  the  extraordinary  burdens  and  sacrifices 
of  war  may  be  shared  in  just  proportion  by  all  the  nation, 
and  that  the  calamitous  experiences  of  the  past  under  the 
voluntary  system  may  be  avoided,  it  is  our  judgment  that 
in  the  raising  of  the  necessary  military  forces  the  principle 
of  universal  obligation  to  service  be  applied  by  a  process  of 
selective  conscription. 

3.  That  members  in  good  standing  of  the  graduating 
classes  of  the  professional  schools  of  the  state  who  shall 
have  been  accepted  for  military  service  by  the  government 
be  granted  their  degrees  without  special  examination. 

4.  That  members  in  good  standing  of  the  graduating 
classes  in  the  undergraduate  departments  of  the  colleges 
and  universities  of  the  state  who  would  normally  be  gradu- 
ated in  June,  19 17,  and  who  shall  be  accepted  for  military 
service  by  the  government  should  be  granted  their  degrees 
without  special  examination. 

5.  That  members  of  the  graduating  classes  in  the  high 
schools  of  the  state  who  would  normally  be  graduated  in  June, 
191 7,  and  who  have  been  accepted  for  military  service  shall 
be  granted  their  diplomas,  and  that  the  colleges  of  the  state  be 
requested  to  honor  these  diplomas  for  purposes  of  admission. 


94  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

6.  That  college  students  in  good  standing  pursuing 
medical  preparatory  courses  who  enlist  or  are  called  into 
military  service  before  the  completion  of  the  college  year  be 
granted  certificates  of  completion  of  their  year  without 
examination. 

7.  That  absence  from  college  or  high  school  by  reason 
of  enlistment  in  military  service  shall  not  prejudice  the 
award  or  the  retention  of  university  scholarships. 

8.  That  while  the  immediate  service  which  women  may 
perform  in  connection  with  the  war  will  be  in  medicine  or 
nursing  and  other  work  for  general  public  welfare,  and  that 
while  the  greatest  service  for  which  they  may  eventually 
be  called  will  be  the  supplying  of  positions  vacated  by  the 
enlisted  men,  we  recommend  to  the  United  States  govern- 
ment the  appointment  by  the  Council  for  National  Defense 
of  a  commission  which  shall  outline  an  appropriate  policy 
for  women  students  in  our  colleges,  with  respect  both  to 
their  college  studies  and  to  their  enlistment  for  national 
service. 

9.  That  this  board  approve  the  plans  of  the  National 
Research  Council  and  proffer  our  hearty  cooperation. 

10.  That  students  in  colleges  and  universities  of  the 
state  who  are  liable  for  military  training  under  the  military- 
training  law  be  exempt  from  the  training  prescribed  by  the 
Military  Training  Commission  if  they  pursue  courses  in  mili- 
tary training  under  approved  instruction  at  their  respective 
institutions. 

Further,  that  as  there  are  numerous  resources  in  both 
the  elementary  and  the  secondary  schools  of  the  state  which 
can  be  used  to  advantage  at  this  time,  —  among  the  most 
important  of   which    resources  are  the  use  of  high-school 


COLLEGES;   TECHNICAL  INSTITUTES       95 

pupils  for  the  farms  and  for  necessary  clerical  and  other 
work  that  can  be  done  by  pupils  who  remain  in  school,  the 
use  of  teachers  for  summer  work,  the  services  possible 
through  industrial  and  household-arts  departments,  and  the 
enlistment  of  upper-grade  children  for  home  gardens,  — 
the  board  adopts  the  following  resolutions  : 

1.  That  the  State  Agricultural  Department  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  State  Education  Department  formulate  a  plan 
for  enlisting  and  placing  high-school  boys  upon  the  farms, 
for  directing  and  supervising  the  work  of  such  boys,  for 
determining  qualifications  as  to  age  and  fitness,  for  deter- 
mining compensation  and  school  credit,  and  for  the  adjust- 
ment of  any  other  problems  connected  with  the  safeguarding 
of  these  boys  who  enlist  for  farm  service. 

2.  That  the  State  Education  Department  secure  through 
the  necessary  sources  a  statement  of  the  needs  that  might 
be  met  through  the  industrial  and  household-arts  depart- 
ments and  other  resources  of  the  schools  herein  stated,  and 
transmit  such  a  statement  to  the  schools  of  the  state,  to 
the  end  that  these  resources  may  be  used  intelligently  and 
through  regularly  constituted  channels. 

3.  That  the  State  Education  Department  consider  the 
practicability  of  securing  some  provision  by  which  during  the 
summer  vacation  and  at  other  times  of  the  year  boys  1 2  years 
of  age  or  over  may  be  employed  if  a  certificate  of  proper 
working  conditions  can  be  furnished. 

It  is  impracticable  to  outline  even  briefly  all  that 
the  various  colleges  and  institutes  have  contributed 
to  war  service.  The  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology  is  hardly  mentioned    in  what  follows, 


96  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

and  yet  it  is  conducting  a  score  of  activities  of 
immediate  emergency  value.  Drexel  Institute  has 
contributed  not  only  courses  but  also  its  president, 
Doctor  Godfrey,  who  is  serving  as  a  member  of 
the  National  Council  of  Defense  in  special  charge 
of  war  needs  as  met  by  education  and  science. 

To  name  all  the  institutions  which  are  serving  in 
one  way  or  another  is  to  call  the  roll  of  nearly  every 
college  and  technical  institution  in  the  country. 
To  give  here  a  brief  account  of  what  a  few  are  doing 
will  show  the  range  of  the  activities  and  the  nature 
of  the  service. 

Early  in  May  Columbia  University  inaugurated 
a  series  of  emergency  courses  of  a  military,  naval, 
and  general  nature  arranged  for  the  purpose  of 
training  students  who  desire  to  serve  the  national 
government  in  time  of  war.  They  were  classified 
as  intensive  courses  and  were  opened  without 
restriction  to  all  those  who  desired  to  be  trained  in 
any  of  the  various  subjects  offered.  These  courses 
included  military  map  making,  field-service  regula- 
tions, general  telegraphy,  radio  telegraphy,  camp 
sanitation,  map  reading  and  map  interpretation,  prac- 
tical navigation,  and  electrical  devices  of  the  navy. 

Harvard  University  has  many  achievements  to  her 
credit,  for  example:  advanced  training  for  selected 
ofHcers  under  the  leadership  of  six  French  officers ; 


COLLEGES;   TECHNICAL  INSTITUTES       97 

a  cadet  school  for  ensigns ;  a  naval  school  for  wire- 
less operators ;  a  course  in  orthopedic  surgery ; 
the  furnishing  of  the  medical  personnel  for  four 
base  hospital  units ;  and  war  service  by  depart- 
ments of  dentistry,  medicine,  psychology,  and  for- 
eign languages. 

Iowa  State  College  gave  a  six  weeks'  course 
in  special  military  and  military-engineering  work. 
Regular  two-year  noncollegiate  courses  were  offered 
electrical  workers  and  stationary  engineers,  me- 
chanical draftsmen  and  mechanics,  structural  drafts- 
men and  building  superintendents,  surveyors  and 
road  makers. 

At  Cornell  University  all  professors  and  instruc- 
tors in  the  marine-engineering  department  and  all 
the  senior  students  of  marine  engineering  were 
in  either  private  or  public  shipyards  on  or  before 
graduation  day. 

The  University  of  Wisconsin,  anticipating  that 
a  large  number  of  persons  who  had  been  trained  in 
the  administration  of  stores  would  soon  be  needed 
in  the  civil  section  of  the  Quartermaster's  Depart- 
ment, in  the  Ordnance  Bureau  of  the  War  Depart- 
ment, and  in  the  Quartermaster's  Officers'  Reserve 
Corps,  decided  to  aid  in  training  for  these  services 
by  offering  special  courses  in  the  classification 
and  handling  of  stores  for  those  departments. 


98  OUR  SCHOOLS   IN  WAR  TIME 

This  university  also  planned  a  summer  session 
with  courses  in  wireless  telegraphy,  first  aid  to  the 
injured,  Boy  Scout  movement  in  theory  and  prac- 
tice, and  gave  a  course  of  war  lectures  especially 
designed  for  teachers,  and  a  course  for  Red  Cross 
volunteers  who  wished  to  take  part  in  civilian  relief 
work.  This  last  course  was  in  cooperation  with  the 
Red  Cross  organization,  which,  as  explained  in  an- 
other chapter,  will  have  much  to  do  with  relieving 
families  deprived  of  their  natural  heads.  The  men 
and  women  in  this  course  studied  the  basis  of 
family  life,  psychological  and  economic  principles 
underlying  bodily  health,  the  resources  of  the  state 
to  preserve  the  family  group,  and  methods  of  social 
service  and  friendly  visiting. 

Aviation  schools  for  training  candidates  for  the 
aviation  corps  were  established  at  the  University 
of  California,  Cornell  University,  Georgia  Institute 
of  Technology,  University  of  Illinois,  Massachusetts 
Institute  of  Technology,  Ohio  State  University, 
Princeton,  and  the  University  of  Texas.  The  first 
navy  aeronautic  school  has  also  been  established  re- 
cently at  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology. 

The  College  of  the  City  of  New  York  offered 
an  emergency  war  course  in  bookkeeping  and  ofhce 
practice  to  help  fit  men  and  women  to  fill  the 
positions    made    necessary  by  the    increased  work 


COLLEGES;   TECHNICAL  INSTITUTES       99 

of  the  national  government,  and  to  train  people 
to  take  the  places  of  those  who  responded  to  the 
call  to  arms.  It  also  offered  its  regular  winter 
courses  during  the  summer  in  order  to  speed  up  the 
graduation  of  young  men  already  enrolled  in  the 
college  who  might  be  drafted. 

This  college  also  placed  in  every  armory  and 
military  headquarters  in  Greater  New  York  a 
teacher  of  conversational  French.  This  work  was 
very  popular  and  highly  successful. 

The  University  of  Kentucky  offered  to  women 
and  civilians  two  special  courses  in  its  College  of 
Electrical  Engineering:  a  course  in  automobile  en- 
gineering especially  designed  to  teach  women  how 
to  drive  and  take  care  of  motor  ambulances,  and 
a  course  in  wireless  telegraphy. 

The  Pennsylvania  State  College  offered  a  six 
weeks'  course  in  storekeeping  under  the  direction 
of  the  Quartermaster's  Department. 

In  Massachusetts,  through  the  extension  de- 
partment of  the  State  Board  of  Education,  lessons 
were  given  in  conversational  French  in  the  armories 
and  encampments.  In  one  armory  as  many  as 
five  instructors  were  engaged  in  this  service.  The 
vocabulary  of  the  soldier  being  quite  unlike  the 
French  dictionary,  the  military  terms  and  expres- 
sions  actually   used   were   emphasized.    Necessary 


ICXJ  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

French  slang  and  words  used  commonly  for  dis- 
tances, rations,  arms  and  equipment,  money,  meas- 
ures, and  military  orders  were  dwelt  upon.  Spoken 
French  for  doctors  and  nurses  who  are  going  to 
the  front  has  been  given  in  cooperation  with  the 
Metropolitan  Chapter  of  the  American  Red  Cross. 

A  six  months'  course  in  wireless  telegraphy  for 
women  was  offered  at  Hunter  College,  New  York 
City,  the  course  of  training  being  in  three  divisions: 
laboratory  work,  technical  work,  and  the  use  of  code. 
This  course  was  given  with  the  expectation  not 
that  women  wireless  operators  will  be  placed  on 
ships  of  war  or  on  transports,  but  rather  that  they 
will  be  placed  in  land  stations  and  on  coastwise 
steamers,  thus  releasing  men  for  more  active  serv- 
ice. It  is  understood  that  on  the  mechanical  side 
the  work  is  harder  for  the  women,  but  that  on  the 
code  work  they  are  much  quicker  than  men. 

The  field  for  service  of  a  college  is  not  neces- 
sarily limited  to  extending  the  usefulness  of  its 
vocational  departments  to  meet  the  war-emergency 
demands.  As  has  already  been  noted,  the  depart- 
ment of  French  may  give  courses  in  conversational 
French  in  armories  and  in  cantonments.  Sir  Robert 
Blair  writes: 

We  had  this  plan  in  England,  and  as  volunteering  grew 
to  very  considerable  dimensions  towards  the  close  of   19 14 


COLLEGES;   TECHNICAL  INSTITUTES     loi 

and  there  were  tens  of  thousands  of  soldiers  grouped  within 
the  near  neighborhood  of  London,  an  arrangement  was  made 
with  the  war-office  authorities  for  the  teaching  of  French. 

Courses  in  mathematics  applicable  to  war  needs 
may  be  given.  The  college  may  send  tutors  to 
cantonments  to  give  instruction  to  undergraduates 
who  have  not  completed  their  college  work  and 
who  would  like  to  receive  a  college  diploma.  Col- 
leges can  cooperate  with  the  Y.M.C.  A.,  to  which 
has  been  given  the  privilege  of  looking  after  the 
recreational  features  in  cantonments.  American 
college  boys  and  others  will  not  be  satisfied  with 
formal  military  training.  They  will  want  health 
talks,  entertaining  and  educational  lectures,  and 
instruction  as  to  many  things  helpful  in  civil  as 
well  as  in  military  life. 

There  is  a  large  opportunity,  in  a  field  as  yet 
hardly  touched,  for  departments  of  psychology  in 
universities  to  help  in  selecting  men  for  different 
branches  of  war  service  and  to  give  vocational 
guidance  to  men  who  leave  the  service  unfitted  by 
war  work  to  reenter  their  former  occupations  and 
perhaps  untrained  to  enter  a  new  service.  A  staff 
of  psychologists  is  now  at  work  in  each  of  our 
cantonments  applying  intelligence  ratings. 

There  are  two  distinct  uses  for  the  ratings  which 
are  given  the  men  as  a  result  of  the  psychological 


I02  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

examinations.  One  of  these  uses  is  military  and 
consists  in  furnishing  a  commanding  officer  with 
the  rating  of  each  man  in  his  command,  by  which 
he  may,  if  he  chooses,  be  guided  in  selecting  men 
for  promotion,  or  for  special  duties  requiring  more 
than  average  intelligence  and  mental  quickness. 
The  other  use  is  medical  and  is  the  thing  specifi- 
cally sought  —  to  find  men  who  are  so  markedly 
below  the  average  in  intelligence  as  to  demand 
consideration  for  discharge  or  for  assignment  to 
simple  manual  work  under  careful  supervision. 

The  general  method  of  the  test  is  as  follows: 
The  men  of  each  company  are  divided  into  4 
groups  of  75  to  80  each.  Each  group  is  first  given 
a  simple  literacy  test  which  takes  about  five  minutes 
and  shows  only  which  of  the  men  can  read  and 
write.  The  illiterates  are  withdrawn  at  this  point  to 
be  given  examinations  for  manual  skill.  All  those 
who  can  read  are  then  given  the  "  group-intelligence 
examination." 

Those  who  do  not  get  good  ratings  are  now  re- 
examined in  a  group  to  discover  whether  they  are 
merely  slow  or  are  of  low-grade  intelligence.  If 
any  fail  to  make  a  satisfactory  showing,  they  are 
grouped  with  the  illiterates  who  were  separated 
from  the  rest  of  the  group  after  the  preliminary 
examination. 


COLLEGES  ;   TECHNICAL  INSTITUTES     103 

All  these  —  illiterates,  and  literates  who  have  not 
done  well  in  the  group  examination  —  are  given 
tests  for  manual  skill  and  ingenuity.  These  tests 
are  such  as  putting  together  dissembled  mechan- 
isms, etc.  After  further  individual  examination 
those  who  receive  the  poorest  rating  are  likely  to 
be  considered  for  discharge  or  as  suited  only  for 
manual  work  under  supervision. 

Those  who  display  special  mental  or  manual 
ability  are  brought  to  the  notice  of  their  company 
commanders  as  men  who  may  be  given  assign- 
ments for  superior  intelligence  or  skill. 

The  aims  of  the  entire  psychological  examina- 
tion are  to  measure  native  intelligence  and  ability, 
not  schooling;  to  disclose  what  a  man  can  do  with 
his  head  and  hands,  not  what  he  has  learned  from 
books;  and  to  help  the  medical  officers  quickly  to 
discover  and  sift  out  the  extremely  incompetent, 
and  thus  prevent  the  inefficiency  and  injustice  re- 
sulting from  putting  men  in  places  which  they  are 
not  qualified  to  fill. 

Of  course  there  is  a  tremendous  opportunity  for 
the  college  to  help  people  understand  the  causes  of 
war.  This  has  already  been  referred  to  in  the  chapter 
on  "  War  and  Community  Uses  of  our  Schools." 

Colleges  having  teacher-training  departments  will 
have  the  opportunity  of  giving  short  courses  to  men 


I04  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

and  women  who  will  take  the  places  of  those  who 
have  gone  to  war.  There  is  also  a  field  for  great 
service  in  discovering  ways  and  means  of  improving 
our  public-school  systems  through  lessons  drawn 
from  the  war. 

Every  college  and  university  has  a  large  library, 
and  this  should  be  examined  with  a  view  to  dis- 
covering its  possible  contribution  to  national  de- 
fense in  war  time.  Aside  from  their  functions  of 
supplying  fresh  news  and  judgments  of  current 
events,  libraries  surely  have  a  vital  part  in  that 
work  of  organized  research  which  is  behind  Ger- 
many's scientific  and  industrial  efificiency.  Success- 
ful research  rests  as  much  upon  adequate  and 
well-organized  book  resources  as  upon  laboratories 
and  trained  men.  The  plain  and  immediate  duty 
of  a  college  situated  near  a  cantonment,  or  having 
a  portion  of  its  student  body  enlisted  in  a  camp, 
would  seem  to  be  to  build  up  a  military  library 
adequate  as  a  center  of  military  information  for 
those  who  are  studying  new  methods  and  instru- 
ments of  attack  and  defense.  Such  a  library 
would  be  a  technical  library  assisting  the  large 
number  of  specialized  schools  and  fields  of  train- 
ing for  officers  and  men  in  every  branch  of  the 
service  and  even  in  different  duties  in  the  same 
branch.     Medical    libraries    of   colleges    should    be 


OUR  COLLEGES  105 

available,  with  new  and  important  material  on  mili- 
tary hygiene,  medicine,  sanitation,  and  surgery,  and 
this  material  should  be  given  the  widest  publicity 
with  reference  to  its  usefulness  for  the  military, 
medical,  and  hospital  corps. 

The  college  library  might  well  lend  to  a  canton- 
ment a  member  of  its  library  staff  for  the  develop- 
ment of  not  only  a  technical  library  but  also  a 
general  reading  library  for  those  soldiers  who  desire 
only  general  reading. 

The  geological  department  of  a  college  can  help 
in  deciding  on  foundation  conditions  for  army- 
work  constructions,  on  the  location  of  camp  sites 
with  reference  to  topography,  drainage,  and  water 
supply,  and  on  the  location  of  trenches  with  refer- 
ence to  dryness,  underdrainage,  and  rock  deposits. 
Such  a  department  can  participate  in  the  study  of 
earth  vibrations  in  connection  with  heavy  artillery 
discharges  for  the  accurate  determination  of  the 
distances  of  enemy  batteries.  It  can  also  help  the 
government  in  giving  more  exact  training  to  young 
men  in  the  interpretation  of  geological  and  topo- 
graphical maps. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  technical  college  and  the 
technical  institute  may  render  the  greatest  govern- 
ment service  through  its  faculty  and  student  body. 
Armour  Institute  of  Chicago  has  a  large  number 


io6  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

of  its  graduates  and  older  students  in  concerns 
which  are  producing  munition  supplies  and  war- 
ships. Many  have  entered  the  signal  service,  and 
a  large  class  in  marine  engineering  has  been  spe- 
cifically organized  to  prepare  men  for  service  with 
the  government. 

Wentworth  Institute  in  Boston,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Principal  Arthur  L.  Williston,  has  been 
giving  instruction  in  various  branches  of  military 
engineering  to  the  First  Regiment  of  Engineers 
of  the  Fifth  District,  U.  S.  A.  This  regiment  was 
originally  an  infantry  regiment,  but  the  men  vol- 
untarily elected  to  train  themselves  to  become  an 
engineering  regiment.  The  commissioned  ofHcers 
and  non-commissioned  ofiicers  and  all  the  enlisted 
men  gave  three  nights  a  week  to  the  work  for 
several  months.  In  addition  some  sixty  of  the  men 
in  the  regiment  voluntarily  resigned  from  business 
positions  in  order  to  devote  eight  to  ten  hours  a 
day,  six  days  in  the  week,  to  the  work.  This  insti- 
tute instilled  what  Mr.  Williston  calls  "mechanical 
gumption "  into  the  enlisted  men  through  short 
unit  courses  in  mapping  and  surveying,  topographi- 
cal sketching,  and  map  reading ;  gasoline-engine 
operation,  repairing,  and  maintenance ;  portable 
steam-power  plant  construction  and  operation ; 
electrical-power   plant   operation ;    field   telephony ; 


Technical  colleges   and  institutes  believe  that  education  is  the  very  last 

thing  in  w^hich  they  ought   to  economize.     Illustrations  of  class  work  in 

national-emergency  courses  for  the  army  and  navy  given  by  Pratt  Institute, 

Brooklyn,  New  York 


ROYS  ^'^^^'^^'^ 


^^: 


INDUSTRIES 

NEED  YOU 


m 


A   poster  which   accomplished    its   purpose.     War  time,   even   more   than 
normal  times,  requires  an  educational  appeal  to  the  work  impulses  of  youth 


COLLEGES;   TECHNICAL  INSTITUTES     107 

electric-line  construction  and  maintenance;  timber 
construction,  including  pontoons,  timber  trusses,  tim- 
ber suspension-bridge  construction,  machine-gun 
shelters,  dugouts,  and  dugout  tunneling  and  fram- 
ing ;  strength  of  materials ;  concrete  construction, 
including  culverts,  bridge  abutments,  gun-carriage 
and  engine  foundations ;  acetylene  welding  and 
demolition  work ;  thermite  welding  and  emergency 
repair ;  machinery  erection  and  alignment ;  forging, 
hardening,  and  tempering ;  hydraulics  and  drainage, 
especially  trench  drainage;  and  rigging.  The  time 
was  too  short  to  give  any  elaborate  theoretical 
training.  The  instruction  was  given  through  brief 
and  intensive  courses  in  a  very  practical  way.  In 
many  instances  it  showed  men  who  had  practical 
experience  and  ability  how  to  adapt  their  particular 
kind  of  skill  to  the  special  needs  of  the  given 
service.  Many  of  these  men  already  had  skill,  but 
they  needed  to  have  it  adapted  to  military  ends. 

Pratt  Institute,  Brooklyn,  New  York,  has  been 
conducting  8  evening  classes  in  machine-shop  prac- 
tice, 6  classes  in  machine-drafting  design,  i  evening 
class  in  elementary  ship  drafting,  and  day  courses 
for  a  large  body  of  enlisted  men  from  the  navy 
electrical  school  and  from  the  signal  reserve  corps. 
Those  who  come  from  the  signal  reserve  corps  are 
being  trained  for  active  service  in  telegraphy,  the 


io8  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

institute  furnishing  the  technical  instruction  in  ele- 
mentary and  applied  electricity,  and  army  officers 
furnishing  the  military  and  field-service  instruction. 
A  mess  for  the  men  of  this  corps  is  conducted  at 
the  school  of  household  science  connected  with 
the  institute,  and  here  details  of  men  are  trained 
for  this  work  through  a  course  in  army  cooking. 
The  men  from  the  electrical  school  are  quartered 
at  the  navy  yard,  and  spend  five  and  one-half 
hours  a  day  at  the  institute  taking  courses  in 
machine-shop  operation,  steam-engine  practice,  ele- 
mentary electricity,  armature-  and  field-coil  repair 
work  on  electrical  machines,  elementary  chemistry, 
and  batteries.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Pratt 
Institute  made  a  special  effort  to  hold  intact  its 
student  body  of  the  regular  courses,  on  the  theory 
that  the  thoroughly  trained  mechanic  or  technician 
in  service  is  many  times  more  valuable  to  the 
nation  than  a  private  in  the  ranks.  As  a  result  of 
this  effort,  very  few  of  the  students  of  the  day 
school  dropped  from  the  regular  courses. 

The  William  Hood  Dunwoody  Institute  of  Min- 
neapolis began  immediately  on  the  severance  of 
relations  with  Germany  to  ser\^e  as  a  recruiting 
station  for  the  United  States  Engineers'  Enlisted 
Reserve  Corps,  the  United  States  Signal  Enlisted 
Reserve  Corps,  the  United  States  Quartermaster's 


COLLEGES;   TECHNICAL  INSTITUTES     109 

Enlisted  Reserve  Corps,  the  United  States  Civil 
Service  Commission,  and  the  United  States  Navy. 

It  also  outlined  a  scheme  for  taking  a  census  of 
mechanics  and  technicians  for  the  state  of  Minne- 
sota, which  is  now  being  carried  out,  and  on  the 
basis  of  which  recruiting  will  go  forward  for  every 
branch  of  the  government  service. 

It  made  arrangements  for  bringing  to  Minne- 
apolis, on  the  first  of  August,  425  recruits  from 
the  Great  Lakes  Naval  Training  Station  at  Chi- 
cago, and'  distributed  them  among  the  following 
classes  in  training  at  the  institute:  general  electri- 
cians, radio  electricians,  carpenter's  mates,  machine- 
shop  operators,  gas-engine  operators,  blacksmiths, 
coppersmiths,  cooks,  and  bakers. 

The  institute  is  training  more  than  200  novices 
in  day  and  evening  classes  in  telegraphy.  Of  these 
about  60  per  cent  are  girls  and  women,  this  course 
being  offered  in  response  to  a  direct  request  from 
railroad  and  telegraph  lines  in  the  vicinity  of  Min- 
neapolis. It  is  also  giving  some  instruction  in 
operating-foremanship  work  for  a  prominent  local 
steel  and  machinery  company,  as  this  company  has 
renewed  the  manufacture  of  munitions  and  needs 
operation  foremen.  The  institute  was  called  upon  to 
select  the  most  promising  men  and  to  train  them  in 
one  process  of  which  they  are  later  to  have  charge 


no  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

in  the  shop.  Director  Charles  A.  Prosser  in  making 
a  report  to  the  secretary  of  the  National  Society 
for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education  said : 

We  have  154  people  taking  radio  work  in  day  and  eve- 
ning classes.  This  group  is  made  up  of  a  number  of  different 
types.  First,  there  are  the  amateurs  with  licenses  who  have 
enlisted  in  our  first  radio  company  of  the  United  States 
Signal  Service  and  have  gone  into  that  class  to  improve 
their  speed.  Second,  there  are  other  young  men  who  have 
gone  in  to  learn  the  work  so  as  to  be  recruited  into  another 
radio  company  of  the  United  States  Signal  Corps  or  into 
the  naval  service,  and  there  are,  in  the  third  place,  young 
men  who  have  gone  in  with  the  idea  of  offering  their  serv- 
ices to  the  Marconi  Company,  either  for  land  work  or  for 
duty  on  board  the  merchant  ships  which  are  being  built. 

Somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of  500  mechanics  and 
technicians  have  been  sent  into  different  branches  of  the 
government  service  by  Dunwoody  Institute.  This  number 
is  made  up  in  part  of  our  own  students  from  our  school  — 
particularly  from  the  evening  classes,  although  some  of  our 
day  boys  have  gone  —  and  in  part  of  mechanics  and  techni- 
cians throughout  Minnesota  who  have  gone  into  the  service 
through  Dunwoody  Institute,  where  we  conduct  a  recruiting 
station  and  where  we  are  recruiting  into  the  service  every 
Wednesday,  apphcations  being  taken  in  the  interim. 

We  have  sent  into  the  service  i  motor-truck  company ; 
2  others  are  in  process  of  organization.  We  are  sending  out 
I  radio  company,  which  is  ready  to  go,  and  are  about  to 
organize  another.  We  are  also  organizing  i  wire  company, 
I  baking  company,  and  i  company  of  cooks.    In  addition 


COLLEGES;    TECHNICAL  INSTITUTES     iii 

we  have  sent  men  to  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard  and  are  send- 
ing men  to  the  Puget  Sound  Navy  Yard.  We  have  also 
put  men  in  touch  with  the  Civil  Service  Commission  and 
sent  them  into  the  service  in  this  way. 

The  response  of  these  and  other  colleges  and 
technical  institutes  justifies  as  nothing  else  could 
their  past  claims  that  they  train  not  only  for  the 
spirit  of  service  but  for  the  life  of  service. 

The  effect  of  the  war  on  the  college  curriculum 
cannot  be  hastily  measured.  Institutions  of  col- 
legiate grade  are  slow  to  make  radical  changes  in 
the  requirements  for  the  bachelor's  degree.  Some 
have  already  shortened  the  college  course  to  three 
years.  Others  have  decided  as  a  war  measure  that 
students  ought  to  be  through  college  by  the  time 
they  reach  conscription  age.  Some  are  offering 
opportunity  for  all-the-year-round  work.  Others 
are  allowing  war  service  to  count  toward  a  col- 
lege degree.  The  English  universities  are  already 
thinking  of  strengthening  their  courses  in  science 
and  laboratory  research,  of  giving  more  attention 
to  modern  languages,  and  of  developing  vocational 
courses. 

Certainly  in  America  there  will  be  an  immediate 
and  greater  demand  for  so-called  "practical "  subjects. 
It  may  be  that  one  of  the  effects  of  the  war  will 
be  the  sharpening   of   the    differentiation    and    an 


112  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

increase  of  competition  between  the  idealistic  and 
the  practical  groups  of  studies.  This  will  be  un- 
fortunate. There  should  be  no  sharpening  of  dif- 
ferences of  opinion.  They  had  much  better  be 
dulled.  There  is  no  real  necessity  for  antagonism 
between  the  cultural  and  the  vocational  subjects. 
People  only  think  there  is  a  need  for  constant 
justification  of  the  one  against  the  other.  Such 
thinking  has  become  a  habit  of  mind. 

The  French  have  a  way  of  saying  that  the  cul- 
tural subjects  are  merely  the  moral  conditions,  the 
ethical  history,  and  a  judgment  as  to  the  ethical 
value  of  the  world  complex  of  vocational  and  eco- 
nomic life ;  for  this  reason  any  conflict  between  cul- 
tural and  vocational  subjects  is  impossible,  and  the 
more  vocational  education  is  developed,  the  more 
will  the  cultural  aspects  be  needed  and  the  more 
highly  developed  will  they  become.  The  French 
point  out  that  what  we  term  cultural  subjects 
developed  in  two  civilizations  which  were  very 
highly  practical,  vocational,  and  militaristic ;  namely, 
Greece  and  Rome.  They  speak  of  the  humanities 
as  being  essentially  the  abiding  lessons  of  those 
civilizations  which  in  vocational  and  military  ef- 
ficiency stood  much  higher  above  their  fellows 
than  Germany  stands  in  those  respects  above 
contemporary   civilization   to-day. 


COLLEGES;   TECHNICAL  INSTITUTES     113 

Vocational  subjects  are  direct-service  subjects 
always.  By  their  very  nature  they  respond  imme- 
diately to  an  emergency.  The  cultural  subjects 
are  more  indirect  in  their  effect.  They  could  not 
be  otherwise.  I  often  wish  we  could  get  into  the 
habit  of  speaking  of  liberal  subjects  in  the  sense  in 
which  this  term  was  used  in  the  older  days  of  our 
colleges,  when  the  term  "  liberal  "  implied  that  the 
subjects  classed  under  this  head  were  liberalizing; 
that  is,  they  liberated,  or  set  free,  the  minds,  spirits, 
and  bodies  of  men  and  women  from  prejudice, 
selfishness,  tradition,  passion,  cruelty,  and  so  on. 
I  have  never  seen  how  one  could  elect  culture, 
for  it  is  always  a  by-product  coming  out  of  think- 
ing and  living.  To  study  the  language  of  an 
ancient  people  and  to  learn  nothing  of  their  gov- 
ernment or  ideals  is  useless.  To  study  this  gov- 
ernment and  these  ideals  of  an  older  civilization 
and  to  see  no  lessons  for  the  world  of  to-day  is 
almost  valueless.  To  study  the  past  in  terms  of 
problems  of  human  society  is  liberalizing. 

New  meanings  of  the  realities  of  war  are  before 
us.  New  concepts  of  two  great  ideals  of  govern- 
ment confront  us.  New  methods  of  making  war 
more  horrible  strike  our  eyes  with  every  news 
issue.  New  schemes  for  patching  up  human  life 
that  it  may  go  forth  again  to  battle  or  return  to 


114  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

industrial  warfares  of  peace  are  heralded  every 
week.  New  societies  for  the  relief  of  human  suf- 
fering due  to  the  war  are  chartered  constantly. 
New  alignments  of  political  groups  committed  to 
reform  are  in  the  making.  New  groupings  of 
nations  not  formerly  allied  stand  before  our  eyes. 
New  methods  of  combining  activities  of  great 
corporate  interests  for  government  needs  are  pub- 
lished daily.  New  trade  possibilities  now  latent  are 
prophesied  as  being  inevitable.  New  ideals  and 
new  ideas  gathered  in  the  trenches  are  appearing 
over  battle  lines  for  new  governmental  practices. 
New  advances  in  the  field  of  government  control 
of  prices  startle  us  continually. 

Out  of  it  all  there  looms  up  a  new  science  of 
chemistry,  improved  methods  of  transportation  in 
the  air,  a  still  greater  standardization  of  making  in- 
dustrial products,  a  new  conception  of  government 
control  of  trade  and  industry,  a  system  of  govern- 
ment insurance  for  individuals  and  corporations, 
new  concepts  of  legislative  authority  and  action, 
and  a  score  of  other  things  all  heading  up  into  a 
new  sense  of  nationalism,  —  and  who  knows  but 
even  a  sense  of  internationalism ! 

Is  it  credible  that  education  alone  will  remain 
unaffected  by  these  world  changes? 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  OPPORTUNITY  FOR  MANUAL  AND 
HOUSEHOLD  ARTS 

A  new  spirit  of  teaching  practical  arts  is  upon 
us.  The  aims,  materials,  and  methods  of  instruc- 
tion in  manual  training,  cooking,  sewing,  agricul- 
ture, and  commercial  branches  are  changing.  They 
have  been  influenced  by  the  vocational-education 
movement,  and  because  of  it  practical  arts  in  gen- 
eral education  must  justify  themselves  or  else  be 
put  into  the  scrap  heap. 

The  development  and  organization  of  differenti- 
ated courses  in  industrial,  agricultural,  and  house- 
hold and  commercial  arts  adapted  to  junior  and 
senior  high  schools  —  more  particularly  in  connec- 
tion with  the  education  of  children  from  12  to 
16  years  of  age  —  offers  a  new  field  of  service  to 
teachers  of  these  subjects  who,  up  to  now,  have 
been  following  methods  unsuited  either  to  the 
needs  of  vocational  training  or  to  the  needs  of 
general  education.  Already  the  set  of  wood  and 
iron  models  taken  from  the  Russian  system  of  the 
early  seventies  has  disappeared,  and    the  sampler 

"5 


Il6  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

book  in  sewing  has  passed  away.  The  era  of  the 
coat  hanger  and  sleeve  board  in  manual  training 
and  of  the  set  of  doll's  clothes  and  models  of 
undergarments  is  doomed,  and  the  cooking  outline 
which  starts  out  with  making  cocoa  in  September 
and  in  the  thirteenth  lesson  takes  up  the  making 
of  an  angel  cake  will  soon  meet  the  fate  of  flower- 
pot holders,  doll's  aprons,  and  book  agriculture. 

But  there  is  a  great  field  for  the  practical  arts 
in  general  education,  —  a  field  which  no  scheme 
of  vocational  training  can  possibly  occupy.  Each 
has  its  place.  Vocational  training  is  fitting  young 
persons  for  profitable  employment  in  chosen  voca- 
tions. Practical  arts  in  general  education  consists 
of  varied  lines  of  activity  taken  from  the  fields  of 
agriculture,  commerce,  industry,  and  the  household 
and  taught  in  the  school  for  the  purpose  of  devel- 
oping capacity  to  deal  with  concrete  things  and 
of  arousing  social  and  industrial  interests  in  the 
workaday  world. 

In  the  early  years  of  the  child's  life  practical- 
arts  work  has  a  strong  motor  and  social  value. 
In  the  middle  years,  say  from  12  to  16,  it  has  a 
social  and  vocational-guidance  value.  The  chapter 
entitled  "  The  Field  for  Industrial  and  Trade 
Schools "  gives  a  number  of  suggestions  as  to 
the  work  which   boys   and,  to   some   extent,  girls 


MANUAL  AND  HOUSEHOLD  ARTS       117 

may  offer  as  their  service  contribution  in  time  of 
war.  However  there  are  fewer  than  100  industrial 
and  trade  schools  in  the  country.  The  majority  of 
our  youth  are  taking  some  practical-arts  work  as 
a  part  of  general  education  in  either  the  ele- 
mentary or  the  secondary  school,  and  surely  these 
young  people  will  want  to  do  something  in  this 
emergency.  And  certainly  the  teachers  of  sewing, 
manual  training,  cooking,  and  agriculture  will  de- 
sire to  do  their  part,  not  only  because  they  can 
be  of  service  at  this  time  but  also  for  the  reason 
that  through  war-service  work  they  will  be  able  to 
improve  upon  the  practical-arts  work  and  make  it 
conform  to  the  new  spirit.  The  whole  spirit  of  the 
new  methods  is  based  upon  getting  away  from 
individual  models  created  out  of  the  mind  of  a 
teacher  and  imposed  upon  an  unsuspecting  stu- 
dent body  which  follows  a  "  course  in  models  "  in 
about  the  same  way  that  it  takes  a  course  in 
arithmetic. 

The  present  scheme  of  teaching  practical  arts 
is  based  upon  the  project  plan  and  not  upon  the 
model  or  exercise  plan.  It  no  longer  depends 
upon  the  teacher's  course  of  study  founded  on 
tool  exercises  or  logical  sequence  of  processes. 
It  now  comes  out  of  a  need  which  is  as  clear 
to   the    student    as    it    should    be    to    the    teacher. 


Ii8  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

The  progressive  teacher  of  manual  training  starts 
out  with  such  a  project,  for  example,  as  a  garage. 
This  involves  making  a  sketch,  working  up  a  bill 
of  materials,  finding  out  the  cost  of  lumber,  cement, 
and  so  on.  It  involves  work  in  concrete,  laying  the 
floor  timbers,  putting  up  the  sides,  laying  out  the 
roof,  setting  in  the  window  and  door  frames,  put- 
ting on  the  tarred  paper  or  shingles  or  galvanized 
iron,  and  painting  and  staining. 

The  progressive  teacher  of  domestic  arts  no 
longer  thinks  of  catering  merely  to  the  personal 
decorative  sense  of  young  girls.  She  no  longer 
has  the  girls  spend  the  entire  year  making  gradu- 
ation dresses,  or  dish  towels,  caps,  and  aprons.  She 
thinks  in  terms  of  quantity  and  in  terms  of  social 
service  which  the  domestic-arts  work  may  render. 
She  discovers  that  a  hospital  needs  towels,  aprons, 
caps,  and  bed  linen,  or  that  the  orphan  asylum  near 
the  school  is  sorely  in  need  of  children's  garments, 
and  then  she  tells  of  this  need  to  the  girls  in  her 
charge  and  the  latter  take  up  the  problem  in  the 
same  way  that  the  boys  take  up  the  problem  of 
building  a  garage.  Each  girl  works  in  conjunc- 
tion with  others  for  a  common  purpose  which  all 
recognize  as  being  worth  while. 

Progressive  teachers  of  cooking  are  realizing  that 
the    idea    of    20  cooking    units    in    a    schoolroom, 


MANUAL  AND   HOUSEHOLD  ARTS        119 

where  little  batches  of  20  model  biscuits  are  made 
and  where  at  the  close  of  the  lesson  each  girl  has 
one  of  these  small  eatables,  is  far  behind  the  prac- 
tice of  those  manual-training  teachers  who  are  mak- 
ing drawing  tables,  benches,  and  looms,  or  laying 
concrete  walks,  building  outdoor  gymnasium  appa- 
ratus, and  so  on.  Some  of  the  teachers  have  insisted 
on  having  a  flat  or  tenement  or  entire  house  near 
the  school,  where  girls  taking  domestic  science  can 
go  to  learn  to  make  real  beds  that  are  really  slept 
upon,  to  clean  bathroom  bowls  that  are  really  used, 
to  cook  meals  that  are  really  eaten  by  people  who 
pay  for  what  they  eat,  to  shake  real  rugs  that  be- 
come really  dirty,  and  to  shop  at  stores  where  they 
come  in  contact  with  actual  commercial  conditions 
and  at  the  end  of  a  week  discover  that  it  really  costs 
money  to  run  a  real  home.  A  few  teachers,  and  in 
time  there  will  be  many,  desire  to  go  still  further. 
They  believe  that  homemaking  cannot  be  taught 
without  having  some  babies  around,  and  so  they 
have  established  day  nurseries  in  connection  with 
the  homemaking  classes. 

It  is  because  of  these  things  which  have  been 
mentioned  in  some  detail  that  I  was  glad,  as 
director  of  the  Division  of  Agricultural  and  Indus- 
trial Education  of  the  New  York  State  Education 
Department,  to  send  out  a  circular  letter  early  in 


I20  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

April,  19 1 7,  to  our  manual-training  and  household- 
arts  teachers,  in  which  I  stated  that  every  teacher 
of  manual  training,  sewing,  or  cooking  should  be 
thinking  in  terms  of  mobilization  service,  and  that 
any  teacher  of  manual  training  who  was  conducting 
his  course  of  models,  instead  of  thinking  and  work- 
ing in  terms  of  food  production  or  industrial  war 
service,  was  absolutely  out  of  touch  with  the  needs 
of  the  day.  I  advised  him  to  turn  his  shop  work 
over  to  home  and  community  gardens,  to  increase 
the  time  allowance  given  to  manual  work,  and 
help  fill  the  cellar  and  pantry.  I  advised  him  to 
give  his  Saturdays  and  afternoons  after  school  and 
even  his  vacation  period  to  supervising  garden 
work  in  the  community.  I  said,  furthermore,  that 
any  teacher  of  sewing  who  was  not  thinking  in 
terms  of  Red  Cross,  and  of  mending,  darning,  and 
repairing,  was  as  far  away  from  the  service  idea 
as  she  possibly  could  be.  I  told  her  that  with  the 
increase  in  price  of  materials  and  with  the  scarcity 
of  dress  goods  there  would  be  necessary  repairing 
and  making  over  which  would  give  her  an  oppor- 
tunity to  do  some  real  things.  I  even  told  her 
that  she  might  drop  some  of  her  sewing  and  help 
the  cooking  teacher  in  organizing  classes  in  pre- 
serving. I  told  the  teachers  of  cooking  that  if 
they  were  running  through  their  outlines  with  no 


MANUAL  AND  HOUSEHOLD  ARTS        121 

reference  to  the  food  shortage  of  next  winter  and 
the  year  after,  they  showed  a  lack  of  compre- 
hension of  the  meaning  of  their  jobs.  I  stated 
that  the  early  summer  and  fall  suggested  lessons 
in  preserving,  while  the  winter  season  conveyed  the 
idea  of  conserving.  I  asked  whether  they  were 
planning  to  stop  their  work  in  June,  before  the 
canning  season  really  began,  and  leave  everything 
idle  until  school  should  open,  when  the  canning 
season  would  be  nearly  over.  I  wondered  what 
provision  had  been  made  in  the  community  for 
using  the  summer  service  which  they  either  had 
offered  or,  I  hoped,  were  about  to  offer. 

A  few  weeks  later  word  came  from  England  of 
how  the  manual-training  teachers  had  been  urged 
by  those  in  authority  to  do  garden  work.  A  portion 
of  these  directions  follows : 

Surely  wood  and  metal  work  have  not  the  monoply  of 
the  educative  value  in  manual  operations.  The  harvesting 
of  an  orchard  of  fruit  or  a  field  of  potatoes  by  a  class  of 
school  children,  accompanied  by  an  enthusiastic  teacher  im- 
bued with  the  right  ideal  of  his  work,  can  be  made  to  serve 
other  purposes  than  merely  that  of  simple  mechanical  utility. 
A  discussion  started  at  first  hand  between  child  and  teacher 
on  such  matters  as  variety  and  quality  of  produce,  the  de- 
structive fruit  pests  and  diseases  encountered,  the  crating, 
packing,  and  distribution  of  produce,  the  weighing  and 
measuring  actually  performed,  the  calculating  of  the  value  of 


122  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

produce  and  of  labor,  and  a  knowledge  that  the  cooperative 
effort  is  in  response  to  a  call  of  England's  need,  would 
provide  open-air  lessons  in  nature  study,  geography,  arith- 
metic, and  civics  quite  as  educative  as  any  obtained  in  the 
elaborately  equipped  manual-training  centers. 

This  is  true,  especially  the  phrase  "a  knowl- 
edge that  the  cooperative  effort  is  in  response  to 
a  call  of  England's  need,"  which  embraces  the 
socializing  value  of  the  manual-arts  principles,  —  a 
value  which  we  often  talk  about  and  as  often  fail 
to  attain. 

Teachers  of  cooking,  in  this  food  crisis  now  upon 
us  and  the  greater  one  which  may  come,  ought  to 
suspend  temporarily  some  of  their  work  in  teach- 
ing children  and  turn  their  attention  to  teaching 
adults.  To  be  sure  the  girl  of  to-day  will  be  the 
mother  of  to-morrow,  bul  the  mother  of  the  imme- 
diate to-morrow  is  also  the  mother  of  to-day,  and 
the  food  crisis  will  be  over,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  by 
the  time  the  girls  in  our  present  cooking  classes 
have  grown  into  motherhood.  These  courses  to 
adults  should  be  intensive  and  in  short  units. 
The  printing  schools  should  print  leaflets  giving 
practical  and  helpful  recipes  to  be  distributed  to 
the  adults.  If  the  women  will  not  come  to  the 
school,  then  the  schools  should  go  to  the  women. 
By  this  it  is  meant  that  classes  can  be  organized 


MANUAL  AND  HOUSEHOLD  ARTS        123 

in  churches,  vacant  stores,  and  settlements.  In  this 
connection  it  may  be  of  interest  to  quote  from 
the  Leicester  (England)  education  committee: 

Arrangements  have  been  made  in  connection  with  the 
local  food  campaign  whereby  the  ordinary  schemes  of  work 
at  the  domestic-science  centers  have  been  temporarily  sus- 
pended and  special  short  courses  in  cookery  instruction  pro- 
vided instead.  These  courses  have  been  designed  primarily 
as  a  means  of  instructing  as  many  women  and  older  girls 
as  possible  in  the  method  of  preparing  and  cooking  suitable 
substitutes  for  bread  and  potatoes.  In  addition  to  the  rooms 
equipped  for  cookery  instruction,  those  normally  devoted  to 
the  teaching  of  laundering  and  housewifery  are  being  used  for 
this  special  work.  The  course  is  arranged  to  cover  4  lessons 
given  on  consecutive  half  days  to  each  group  of  attendants, 
and  at  the  conclusion  of  each  course  the  women  and  girls 
attend  one  evening  for  a  review  lesson  including  a  practical 
demonstration  to  which  outsiders  are  invited.  Leaflets  have 
been  prepared  and  sent  to  the  schools  for  distribution.  The 
children  themselves  write  out  the  scale  of  rations  as  applied  to 
individual  families  and  take  their  copies  home,  thus  becoming 
the  active  agents  in  the  food  campaign. 

In  Albany,  New  York,  the  regular  work  in  cook- 
ing was  discontinued  early  in  June  for  the  school 
year  of  191 7,  and  a  special  course  of  10  lessons  in 
food  conservation  was  given  at  4  domestic-science 
centers.  The  course  consisted  of  i  lesson  in  the 
preservation  of  eggs,   3  lessons  on  canning,   i   on 


124  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

making  soap,  i  on  butter  substitutes,  2  on  jellies 
and  marmalades,  and  i  on  the  drying  of  a  number 
of  agricultural  products. 

Not  only  may  the  domestic-science  teacher  go 
to  adults  by  the  way  of  churches  or  settlements, 
but  she  may  go  directly,  —  in  the  rural  districts, 
at  least,  —  with  demonstration  kitchens  mounted 
on  automobiles.  In  Lindsay  County,  England,  for 
example,  a  domestic-science  lecturer  arranged  an 
experimental  course  of  lectures  and  demonstrations 
on  economical  cookery,  and  equipped  with  neces- 
sary utensils  a  traveling  kitchen  at  a  cost  of  ^100. 
She  covered  each  of  the  larger  villages  in  the  area 
selected,  spending  one  day  in  each  place,  the  morn- 
ing being  given  over  to  traveling.  In  the  after- 
noon, exhibitions  of  wheat-flour  substitutes  were 
arranged  and  demonstrations  given  that  were  based 
upon  left-overs  from  her  preceding  evening's  lesson. 
She  also  gave  short  talks  on  beekeeping,  horticul- 
ture, fruit  bottling,  and  so  on.  In  the  evening  she 
gave  a  cooking  demonstration. 

The  "  van  "  used  by  the  women  of  Long  Island, 
New  York  State,  consisted  of  a  train  of  cars  be- 
hind a  steam  locomotive,  from  which  demonstra- 
tions were  given  in  fruit  and  vegetable  preserving. 
The  County  of  Nottingham,  England,  gave  similar 
demonstrations  and    in   addition   gave    lectures   to 


MANUAL  AND  HOUSEHOLD  ARTS       125 

mothers  on  the  necessity  of  taking  unusual  precau- 
tions with  reference  to  the  health  of  babies  at  this 
period.  It  was  customary  in  much  of  the  work  in 
England  to  have  an  agriculturist  go  with  the 
teacher  and  give  talks  on  spraying,  elimination  of 
pests,  and  conservation  of  garden  products. 

One  of  the  greatest  services  that  the  domestic- 
science  teacher  can  render,  whether  she  labors  in 
rural  or  in  urban  fields,  is  the  organization  of  can- 
ning clubs.  The  canning  club  enlists  the  services 
of  women,  girls,  and  even  boys.  It  can  be  made 
as  much  of  a  social  institution  as  corn  husking  and 
barn  raising  were  formerly.  But  the  teacher  must, 
in  most  instances,  move  out  of  her  domestic-science 
kitchen  with  its  little  gas  stoves  and  quart  sauce- 
pans. In  the  country  district  the  equipment  will 
be  the  stove  in  the  village  church,  with  a  wash 
boiler,  galvanized  vat,  washtub,  or  other  vessel  with 
a  well-fitting  top,  which  can  easily  be  transformed 
into  a  home  canner  by  making  a  false  bottom  with 
lifting  handles.  In  a  village  or  small  city  it  may 
be  necessary  to  beg,  borrow,  or  buy  the  necessary 
cooking  utensils,  and  to  obtain  free  use  of  a  vacant 
store,  asking  the  local  gas  company  to  install,  free 
of  charge,  some  gas  ranges.  The  boys  will  prepare 
the  fruit ;  the  women  and  girls  will  can  it  or  dry 
it,  as  the  case  may  be.    To  dispose  of  the  product 


126  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

is  a  simple  matter.  It  may  be  sold  and  the  pro- 
ceeds divided.  It  may  be  taken  to  the  homes  and 
the  expense  of  producing  shared. 

In  the  city  the  domestic-science  teacher  serving 
as  a  leader  of  the  canning  club  must  watch  closely 
the  market  and  buy  when  the  price  is  right,  particu- 
larly when  there  is  a  surplus  that  may  otherwise 
be  wasted.  It  will  be  a  new  experience  for  many 
domestic-science  teachers.  It  is  a  rather  different 
proposition  from  canning  a  few  baskets  of  straw- 
berries, cherries,  or  currants  in  a  classroom. 

Naturally  other  containers  than  glass  jars  or  tum- 
blers will  have  to  be  used.  In  fact,  the  canning 
club  after  one  season  of  experimentation  is  likely 
to  resemble,  with  its  larger  and  more  efficient 
equipment,  a  miniature  canning  factory. 

In  Berkeley,  California,  the  children  of  the  entire 
city  had  a  Jar  Day,  when  they  went  out  and  col- 
lected every  discarded  and  undesired  jar.  These 
were  cleaned  and  sold  and  the  money  was  turned 
into  a  "  service  fund."  Many  jars,  also,  were  filled 
with  surplus  vegetable  products  to  be  used  for  the 
poor  in  the  winter. 

Of  course  the  old  drying  methods  of  grand- 
mother's days  must  be  rejuvenated.  Mr.  Fred  P. 
Reagle,  supervisor  of  manual  training  in  Montclair, 
discovered  one  of  the  old-fashioned  evaporators  and 


MANUAL  AND  HOUSEHOLD  ARTS        127 

had  a  large  number  made  up  by  the  boys  in  his 
school  and  passed  out  to  neighboring  communities. 
Here  is  an  old  home  industry  which  may  be  revived 
in  the  home  or  the  community. 

Mr.  Reagle,  in  describing  his  evaporator,  writes: 

I  was  obliged  to  build  something  which  could  be  used 
anywhere  regardless  of  the  availability  of  steam  heat,  elec- 
tric fans,  or  coal.  Furthermore,  it  was  necessary  to  con- 
struct from  common  stock  material  and  to  use  some  stock 
stove.  I  hit  upon  the  idea  of  using  a  common  laundry 
stove  which  could  burn  either  wood  or  coal.  I  made 
20  frames,  covered  with  galvanized  wire,  to  hold  the 
fruit.  The  control  of  the  air  circulation  was  obtained  by 
means  of  an  adjustable  sliding  door  beneath  the  stove. 
The  heated  air  passes  around  and  over  the  stove  and 
through  the  fresh  food  products,  taking  out  the  moisture 
and  going  out  through  the  adjustable  ventilator  at  the  top. 
The  evaporator  has  a  capacity  of  from  5  to  8  bushels  of 
fruit  and  vegetables  a  day. 

Another  activity  for  domestic-science  teachers  of 
more  experience  will  be  in  the  training  of  cooks 
for  the  army,  or,  as  the  director  of  the  School  of 
Practical  Arts  (Teachers  College)  believes,  "in  the 
training  of  people  to  train  cooks." 

The  following  quotation  from  a  letter  written 
by  Sir  Robert  Blair  of  London  to  Superintendent 
Maxwell  of  New  York  City  shows  what  was  done 
in   London : 


128  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

In  the  summer  recess,  191 5,  264  of  our  domestic-science 
teachers  volunteered  part  of  their  hoHdays  in  order  to  help  in 
the  work  of  training  2500  soldiers  to  cook  and  to  meet  the 
ordinary  requirements  in  this  line  of  the  private  in  the  field. 
The  War  Office  drew  men  from  different  units  from  all  over 
England  and  brought  them  to  London  in  two  great  groups 
and  paid  1/93  day  for  the  up-keep  of  the  men.  The 
soldiers  were  billeted  in  the  school  buildings  and  the  prep- 
aration of  their  food  formed  the  basis  of  the  cookery  in- 
struction. Each  group  was  taken  for  a  period  of  ten  days. 
The  War  Office  was  most  appreciative  of  the  work  done  by 
these  domestic-economy  instructresses.  The  War  Office  did 
not  ask  us  to  repeat  this  the  following  summer,  although  it 
was  repeated  to  some  extent  in  other  parts  of  England. 
The  War  Office,  however,  did  ask  us  to  lend  them  30  care- 
fully selected  teachers  of  cooking  for  the  purpose  of  visiting 
army  canteens  and  giving  advice  both  on  cooking  and  (what 
I  believe  is  more  important)  on  quantities  used. 

Still  another  service  can  be  rendered  by  the 
cooking  teachers,  especially  in  our  large  cities  and 
in  our  industrial  villages.  This  service  consists  in 
giving  meals  to  children  w^ho  are  in  want.  Of 
course  at  the  present  moment  we  see  little  need 
for  this  work,  but  the  pinch  of  poverty  has  come 
upon  England,  France,  and  Germany,  and  our 
ow^n  land  may  not  always  be  one  of  plenty.  When 
the  need  arises,  teachers  should  be  prepared  to 
furnish  lunches  to  the  children  and  possibly  even 
breakfasts,    to    say    nothing    about    suppers.     The 


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MANUAL  AND  HOUSEHOLD  ARTS        129 

dislocation  of  many  ordinary  trades  and  lines  of 
business,  the  taking  from  the  home  of  the  family's 
means  of  support,  the  increased  cost  of  food  and 
provisions,  and  the  prevalence  of  sickness  due  to 
neglect  may  necessitate  the  feeding  of  children  in 
school.  In  London  the  list  of  children  to  whom 
meals  were  given  daily  increased  rapidly  from 
something  like  32,000  in  July,  1914,  up  to  75,000 
about  the  middle  of  September,  19 14.  Fortunately, 
however,  as  trade  and  industry  became  better  ad- 
justed there  was  a  steady  decline  in  the  number 
of  children  that  were  fed,  so  that  in  May,  191 7, 
there  were  only  about  12,000  —  the  children  then 
on  the  list  being  mainly  the  children  of  widows 
who  were  forced  to  go  out  to  work.  The  number 
of  meals  provided  per  week  in  the  schools  of  Eng- 
land in  July,  191 5,  was  200,000.  In  a  year  this 
number  had  dropped  to  120,000. 

The  drawing  departments  might  well  have  their 
students  design  posters.  Those  designed  by  Ameri- 
can illustrators  for  the  first  Liberty  Loan  were 
surprisingly  ineffective.  Only  one  stood  out  —  that 
with  the  reproduction  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty 
with  the  accompanying  symbol  and  direct  wording. 
Our  enlistment  posters  have  been  crude,  lacking 
in  psychological  appeal  as  well  as  in  design.  It 
is  questionable   whether   recruiting    is  aided    by  a 


I30  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

picture  showing  a  naval  officer  lounging  under  a 
palm  tree  while  in  the  distance  a  marine  is  seen 
standing  amid  bursting  shells  on  a  battleship. 
There  has  been  and  will  be  an  opportunity  for 
students  to  design  posters  for  Red  Cross  work; 
for  enlistment  as  farm  cadets;  for  enrollment  in  a 
home-service  unit  for  girls,  in  community  canning 
clubs,  in  Boy  Scout  work,  in  school,  home,  and 
community  gardening;  for  patriotic  meetings  and 
a  score  of  other  occasions.  Good  posters  have  an 
almost  incalculable  influence  on  civic  life  at  any 
time.  Within  the  last  year  there  have  been  held  in 
many  cities  various  competitions  in  poster  work  of 
pupils  with  such  subjects  as  "  Red  Cross,"  "  Thrift," 
"Safety  First,"  "  Fire  Prevention,"  "  Pure  Milk,"  and 
"  Liberty  Loan." 

There  is  plenty  of  work  for  the  manual-training 
teacher.  Mention  has  already  been  made  of  garden 
work,  not  so  much  in  school  gardens,  however,  as  in 
community  gardens,  for,  like  the  canning-club  work, 
here  is  a  splendid  opportunity  to  bring  adults  and 
children  together.  In  a  number  of  small  cities  in 
the  country  where  tillable  land  could  be  obtained, 
the  manual-training  teachers  directed  a  community- 
garden  project.  The  boys  built  the  tool  house; 
the  Boy  Scouts  took  turns  in  acting  as  watchmen; 
plots  were  laid  out  on  a  family  or  individual  basis; 


MANUAL  AND  HOUSEHOLD  ARTS        131 

seed  was  purchased  in  bulk  and  distributed  at  cost ; 
experts,  hired  by  the  day,  plowed  and  harrowed  the 
ground ;  stakes  marking  the  plots  were  made  in  the 
school ;  and  the  manual-training  instructors,  or,  as 
they  were  termed,  the  garden  directors,  spent  their 
summer  vacation  in  a  useful  service. 

The  manual-training  teacher  may  help  the  Red 
Cross  chapter  in  packing  supplies  into  the  boxes 
which  his  boys  have  made.  He  can  be  planning 
the  hospital  furniture  which  he  may  be  called 
upon  to  make,  as  in  France,  where  the  boys 
built  furniture  for  improvised  hospitals  and  in- 
stalled electric  lights.  He  can  be  thinking  how 
he  shall,  if  required,  make  hospital-bed  racks, 
cots,  tables,  and  simple  reclining  chairs.  Perhaps 
he  may  have  to  supervise,  as  have  the  manual- 
training  teachers  in  England,  the  making  of  hand- 
grenade  bags,  chaff  bags,  dummy  cartridges  for 
the  training  of  troops,  or  sand  bags.  In  a  single 
secondary  school  in  Bradford,  England,  more  than 
1 200  articles — including  splints,  crutches,  bed-boards 
and  rests,  screens,  rollers,  trays,  etc.  —  have  been 
made  in  the  manual-training  department  in  one 
year.  Perhaps  in  the  early  spring  latrines  can  be 
designed  and  built  for  the  farm  cadets,  as  was  done 
in  the  Newton  (Massachusetts)  school,  or  shacks 
for  troops,  as  was  done  at  Plattsburg,  New  York, 


132  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

by  the  boys  from  the  Stuyvesant  High  School, 
New  York  City.  The  teacher  may  have  his  part 
to  play  in  giving  vocational  training  to  maimed 
soldiers  (see  chapter  on  "  Reeducation  of  the 
Disabled "),  as  all  of  the  instructors  in  manual- 
training  schools  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada  are 
now  doing. 

A  manual-training  teacher  in  Nashville,  Tennes- 
see, Mr.  John  M.  Foster,  has  his  boys  make  jig- 
saw puzzles,  checkerboards,  and  bandage  winders 
for  the  use  of  our  soldiers  in  France.  During  the 
summer  of  191 7  he  organized  a  boys'  auxiliary  of 
the  Red  Cross,  and  the  group  made  packing  cases 
according  to  official  specifications.  The  organiza- 
tion included  a  shop  foreman,  a  timekeeper,  and 
a  stock  man.  Lumber  and  other  materials  were 
contributed  by  local  dealers. 

Perhaps  the  manual-training  instructor  will  coop- 
erate with  the  teacher  of  domestic  science,  as  male 
strength  is  needed,  in  providing  comforts  for  the 
soldiers,  such  as  socks  and  mufflers  made  on  knit- 
ting machines,  and  in  helping  with  the  packing 
and  crating.  In  this  connection  there  is  another 
quotation  on  the  work  of  London  children : 

At  the  end  of  the  first  year  of  the  war  we  began  to 
organize  efforts  to  provide  clothing  and  other  necessities 
for  Belgian  and  Serbian  children.    In  a  few  months  the 


MANUAL  AND  HOUSEHOLD  ARTS        133 

schools  were  able  to  furnish  10,000  complete  kits  made 
to  the  pattern  and  color  and  size  supplied  by  the  two 
embassies.  It  is  reported  that  the  making  of  these  kits 
was  one  of  the  best  exercises  in  planning,  cutting,  and  sew- 
ing which  the  schools  ever  undertook,  and  probably  nothing 
has  done  more  to  foster  the  school  esprit  de  corps  in  the 
history  of  municipal  schools  since  their  origin,  in  1870. 

In  France  a  number  of  schools,  when  the  build- 
ings were  turned  into  hospitals,  equipped  either 
the  entire  hospital  or  a  considerable  number  of 
beds  at  their  own  expense  and  by  their  own  work. 
Hospital  service  was  largely  organized  by  these 
schools.  One  school  would  be  responsible  for  the 
linen,  another  for  mending,  another  for  table  serv- 
ice, another  for  cooking,  and  another  for  sending 
and  receiving  packages.  A  workroom  established 
by  the  school  girls  in  one  of  these  hospitals  had 
sent  to  the  front  in  a  year  and  a  half  25,330 
packages.  One  little  village  school  of  only  30 
pupils  in  a  short  period  collected  2542  eggs  for 
the  wounded  soldiers  and  made  socks  and  mufflers 
in  addition.  In  another  small  district  each  of  the 
schools  specialized  in  some  kind  of  work,  one 
making  up  parcels  for  war  prisoners,  another  knit- 
ting sailors'  gloves,  another  making  clothing  for 
refugees,  and  still  another  providing  candles  for 
troops  in  trenches. 


134  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

A  small  country  school  in  the  Midlands  of  Eng- 
land, in  addition  to  weekly  contributions  of  vege- 
tables to  the  local  hospital  for  wounded  soldiers, 
has  made  26  bed  cradles  and  a  dozen  crutches, 
while  the  youngest  boys  have  made  splints. 

A  report  from  a  northeast-coast  district  of  Eng- 
land mentions  manual-training  centers  where  bed 
tables,  toilet  tables,  bed  rests,  and  clinical-chart 
carriers  are  made  for  the  local  hospital.  Even  the 
girls  have  made  splints  and  bed  tables.  Of  course 
hundreds  of  sand  bags  have  been  made  in  the 
schools. 

The  report  closes  with  these  significant  words: 
"  The  effect  of  all  this  work  has  been  most  remark- 
able. Even  districts  where  formerly  little  interest 
was  taken  by  the  children  seem  suddenly  to  realize 
the  value  of  it  all."  This  is  what  might  have  been 
expected,  and  what  we  in  America  may  expect 
when  we  make  our  practical-arts  work  socializing, 
useful,  and  contributory  to  some  great  cause  that 
the  children  see  is  worth  while. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  WORK  IMPULSES  OF  YOUTH 

Since  August,  19 14,  there  have  been  presented 
to  us  new  aspects  of  the  relation  of  children  to 
industry.  Up  to  that  time  the  only  consideration 
for  those  who  had  the  welfare  of  children  at  heart 
was  the  child  himself;  but  with  the  war,  the  wel- 
fare of  the  child  became  tied  up  with  the  problem 
of  the  welfare  of  the  country  and  its  demands  for 
service  on  the  whole  population.  The  endeavor  to 
adjust  these  two  in  nice  balance  has  resulted  in 
experimental  legislation  or  in  action  without  legis- 
lation, both  of  which  have  often  been  of  no  genuine 
or  lasting  benefit  to  either  interest  concerned. 

In  America,  in  the  first  half  of  19 17,  many  of 
our  states  appeared  to  be  following  the  lead  of 
England  in  abrogating  the  compulsory-attendance 
law,  urging  the  same  reason  for  permitting  children 
within  school  age  to  work  in  fields  and  factories. 
Everyone  is  familiar  with  the  facts  presented  by 
farmer  and  industrial  employer.  In  sections  whose 
activity  has  been  stimulated  by  the  production  of 
war  products,  such  as  Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  other 

135 


136  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

industries  and  mercantile  establishments  have  found 
it  impossible  to  run  as  usual  owing  to  the  presence 
of  munition  plants,  which  attract  an  abnormal  num- 
ber of  workers. 

Not  only  is  neighborhood  business  affected  by 
the  presence  of  war  industries,  but  the  farm  short- 
age is  aggravated ;  for  the  supply  of  intermittent 
labor,  the  kind  demanded  for  berry  picking,  har- 
vesting, and  canning,  is  not  forthcoming  when  the 
workers  are  offered  steady  employment  in  munition 
and  textile  plants.  In  191 7  many  small  canneries 
were  threatened  with  the  prospect  of  closing  and 
letting  the  adjacent  crops  spoil  in  the  fields ;  hence 
their  call  for  schoolboys  to  assist  them  in  cultivat- 
ing and  harvesting.  This  resulted  in  an  unprece- 
dented rush  of  children  between  14  and  16  to 
obtain  employment  certificates,  and  a  clamor  from 
those  below  14  to  be  allowed  to  leave  school  and 
go  to  work. 

With  the  nation  and  the  state  urging  farmers 
and  food  producers  to  make  every  exertion  to 
increase  the  food  supply,  legislatures  must  render 
assistance  in  solving  the  labor-shortage  problem. 
It  need  hardly  be  pointed  out  that  the  farmer 
cannot  be  expected  to  plant  additional  acres  unless 
he  is  reasonably  sure  that  it  will  be  possible  for 
him    to    have  his    acres    cultivated   and    harvested. 


THE  WORK  IMPULSES  OF  YOUTH       137 

England  as  early  as  September  i,  19 14,  was  feel- 
ing the  shortage  created  by  the  numbers  of  men 
enlisting,  and  every  Local  Education  Authority  was 
being  besought  by  farmers  and  manufacturers  to  ob- 
tain modifications  of  the  law  which,  generally  speak- 
ing, held  children  in  school  up  to  14  years.  An 
order  of  the  Board  of  Education  to  the  Local  Edu- 
cation Authority  in  Northamptonshire,  answering 
such  a  plea,  stated: 

While  the  Board  of  Education  have  no  power  to  give 
any  general  directions  overriding  the  ordinary  law  with 
regard  to  school  attendance  and  the  employment  of 
children,  ...  a  Local  Education  Authority  is  under  no 
obligation  to  take  proceedings  in  respect  of  nonattendance 
of  a  child  at  school  if  they  are  satisfied  that  there  is  a 
reasonable  excuse  for  nonattendance. 

The  "  reasonable  excuse "  was  found  in  the  over- 
powering clamor  of  farmers  and  munition  makers 
who  were  suffering  from  lack  of  workers,  as  in 
Staffordshire,  where  the  petition  sent  to  the  Edu- 
cation Authority  by  the  bolt-and-nut  manufacturers 
at  Darlaston  stated  that  owing  to  the  enlistment  of 
men  in  various  branches  of  his  Majesty's  forces 
and  because  of  the  fact  that  the  firms  concerned 
were  largely  engaged  on  work  of  great  urgency 
for  the  naval  and  military  services,  "  it  was  desir- 
able, in   order  to  prevent  delay  in   the    execution 


138  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

of  this  work,  that  the  school-attendance  by-laws 
should  be  relaxed  for  the  duration  of  the  war  so 
as  to  permit  of  the  employment  of  boys  over  the 
age  of  13  years."  ^ 

It  cannot  be  stated  too  strongly  that  England 
has  realized  too  late  the  practical  impossibility  of 
recovery  for  school  of  the  children  thus  released, 
and  the  dangers  to  the  nation  of  allowing  the 
junior  population  to  go  into  industry  without  super- 
vision. There  will  be  introduced  into  our  legis- 
latures in  19 1 8  and  later  many  bills  which  will 
parallel  English  action,  and  the  various  states  must 
watch  carefully  to  see  that  in  their  zealous  attempts 
to  increase  food  or  necessary  manufactured  supplies 
they  do  not  create  and  sanction  disastrous  condi- 
tions for  the  health  and  morals  of  the  young. 

Now  action  in  regard  to  our  schools  may  be 
of  several  types.  First,  there  may  be  passed  laws 
which  abrogate  the  existing  compulsory-attendance 
law;  such  legislation  would  be  that  permitting 
children  below  compulsory  school  age  to  leave 
school.  Second,  it  is  possible  to  have  the  existing 
laws  interpreted  so  as  to  excuse  absence  from 
school,  as  in  North  Dakota,  where  the  attorney- 
general  in  an  open  letter  to  school  officers,  April, 

1  Quoted  from  correspondence  of  the  Board  of  Education  to  the  Local 
Education  Authority  in  Northamptonshire. 


THE  WORK  IMPULSES  OF  YOUTH       139 

191 7,  interprets  the  section  of  the  school  law  ex- 
empting children  from  school  attendance  in  cases 
of  necessity  to  apply  to  children  of  school  age 
actually  engaged  in  tilling  the  soil.  A  third  type 
of  action  is  that  which  suspends  the  compulsory- 
attendance  law  under  certain  conditions;  such  a 
law  is  the  so-called  "  Brown  Bill,"  chapter  689  of 
the  Laws  of  191 7,  New  York  legislature,  to  which 
reference  will  be  made  later.  Action  may  also  be 
taken  in  regard  to  shortening  or  lengthening  the 
established  school  year,  shifting  vacations,  and 
changing  hours  of  session.  For  instance,  the 
Bureau  of  Education  at  Washington  has  suggested 
keeping  school  open  twelve  months,  and  this  advice 
may  be  taken  in  some  localities ;  it  is  possible,  also, 
that  a  continuation  of  the  demand  for  agricultural 
labor  of  students  may  result  in  a  different  allot- 
ment of  vacations  in  the  apple-  and  peach-growing 
sections,  so  that  students  employed  in  harvesting 
may  lose  a  minimum  of  school  attendance. 

Events  moved  very  rapidly  in  the  spring  of  191 7. 
We  were  called  upon  by  national  and  state  gov- 
ernments, by  chambers  of  commerce  and  boards 
of  trade,  by  bankers  and  railroads,  to  raise  crops. 
We  were  told  that  America  must  be  the  pantry 
for  all  Europe  and  that,  do  the  best  that  we  might, 
we  should  not  do  overmuch.    Obviously,  with  such 


I40  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

authority  back  of  a  movement  for  increased  agri- 
cultural production,  it  did  not  take  very  long  for 
state  boards  of  agriculture  and  state  departments 
of  education  to  respond,  to  say  nothing  about  the 
propaganda  set  forth  by  settlements,  women's  clubs, 
the  Y.M.C.A.,  the  Boy  Scouts,  the  National  Secur- 
ity League,  the  Women's  Patriotic  Service  League, 
and  a  score  of  other  organizations,  that  put  a 
psychological  persuasion  into  the  situation  which 
was  hard  for  school  authorities  and  school  children 
to  resist. 

The  following  data  relative  to  the  action  of 
a  number  of  the  states  were  compiled  by  the 
National  Child  Labor  Committee.  In  general  the 
data  showed  no  provision  made  for  supervision, 
for  physical  examination,  for  wages,  or  for  defini- 
tion of  "passing  grade."  In  some  instances  there 
were  even  no  age  limitations. 

California.  During  continuance  of  state  of  war,  state 
board  of  education  with  approval  of  governor  may  reduce 
school  term  to  six  months  when  necessary  '"  for  the  plant- 
ing or  harvesting  of  crops  or  for  other  agricultural  or 
horticultural  purposes." 

Indiana.  Letter  from  state  superintendent  of  public  in- 
struction to  county  superintendents,  April  lo,  191 7,  saying 
in  part :  "  It  is  my  wish  and  order  that  you  permit  such 
high-school  girls  and  boys,  and  also  such  eighth-grade  girls 


THE  WORK  IMPULSES  OF  YOUTH       141 

and  boys  as  may  care  to  engage  in  Home  Projects  work 
looking  toward  the  increase  of  our  agricultural  output,  to 
engage  in  such  work  and  to  receive  therefor  full  credit  on 
the  school  records,  provided  this  work  is  done  to  the  satis- 
faction of  the  county  agent  and  the  county  superintendent." 
Plan  formulated  later  by  principals  and  state  superintend- 
ents for  supervising,  certifying,  and  accrediting  such  work 
did  something  to  stop  a  general  exodus,  but  came  too  late  to 
do  much  good. 

Illinois.  State  superintendent  wrote  to  local  superintend- 
ents, April  10,  advising  that  all  boys  eligible  for  working 
certificates  be  excused  from  school  May  i  and  receive  a 
working  certificate  upon  assurance  that  they  have  employ- 
ment on  a  farm  or  in  a  garden,  credit  to  be  given  for  work 
upon  guarantee  that  summer  months  have  been  spent  in 
farming  or  gardening. 

Kansas.  State  board  of  education  advised  local  school 
officials,  April  17,  that  it  would  "approve  granting  a  full 
year's  credit  to  pupils  who  have  passing  grade  and  who  find 
it  necessary  to  withdraw  from  school  before  the  end  of  the 
school  year  either  to  enlist  in  the  military  service  or  actually 
to  engage  directly  in  food  production." 

Maine.  Boys  16  and  over  excused  from  school  attend- 
ance, June  I  to  October  31,  for  work  on  farms  under  super- 
vision of  Y,  M.  C.  A.  official.  (See  chapter  on  "'  Farm  Cadets.") 

Maryland.  Superintendent  of  schools,  Baltimore  County, 
in  open  letter  to  school  officials,  May  1 1 ,  authorizes  the 
employment  on  farms  of  "boys  and  girls  who  are  old 
enough  to  be  of  real  productive  value."  On  days  when  not 
so  employed  they  are  required  to  attend  school.    Children 


142  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

over  1 3  who  have  attended  school  one  hundred  days  during  the 
year  may  be  employed  without  permits  ;  those  who  have  not 
attended  one  hundred  days  must  have  permits.  Children 
under  13  must  have  a  permit,  "which  should  not  be  issued 
to  a  child  who  is  too  immature  to  do  work  for  which  the 
permit  is  asked."  Permits  issued  for  twenty  days  or  less 
may  be  renewed  upon  application  of  parent. 

Similar  plan  was  discussed  by  state  board  of  education 
but  not  approved  on  ground  that  it  might  lead  to  abroga- 
tion of  the  laws  on  child-labor  and  school-attendance. 

Missojiri.  State  superintendent  of  public  schools  wrote 
to  local  officials  April  13,  suggesting  that  they  "excuse  at 
once  from  high  school  all  boys  over  14  years  of  age  who 
will  go  to  farms  and  work.  Give  them  full  credit  for  their 
year's  work  at  the  end  of  the  school  year,  with  the  stand- 
ing they  have  at  present.  Have  the  boy  who  gets  the 
credit  give  evidence  satisfactory  to  you  as  to  his  work  on 
the  farm.  Include  boys  who  live  in  the  country  and  boys 
who  will  go  to  the  farm  to  work.  Extend  the  same  privilege 
to  girls  where  you  deem  it  advisable." 

New  York.    (Referred  to  later  in  this  chapter.) 

North  Dakota.  Attorney-general  in  open  letter  to  school 
officers,  April,  1 9 1 7,  interprets  section  of  school  law  exempt- 
ing children  from  school  attendance  in  cases  of  necessity  to 
apply  to  children  of  school  age  actually  engaged  in  tilling 
the  soil. 

State  superintendent  of  schools  in  open  letter  to  school 
officials,  April,  19 17,  recommends  that  schools  should  not 
open  earlier  than  October  i,  with  a  spring  vacation  of  four 
or  five  weeks,  and  that  the  school  be  kept  open  through 


THE  WORK  IMPULSES  OF  YOUTH       143 

June  and  July  when  there  is  less  and  cheaper  farm  work  to 
do.  "  This  would  make  available,  and  with  a  minimum  loss 
of  school  time,  some  5000  of  the  older  boys  at  a  time  when 
labor  is  scarce  and  wages  are  high." 

Pennsylvania.  State  board  of  education,  April  19,  issued 
circular  letter  stating  that  farm  and  garden  work  should  be 
considered  valid  excuse  for  absence  from  school,  and  for 
children  12  and  over  in  good  standing  such  work  should 
be  credited  in  lieu  of  school  attendance. 

New  Jersey.  State  board  of  education  sent  out  a  circu- 
lar letter  to  superintendents  and  principals  in  which  it  was 
stated  that  credit  towards  graduation  might  be  given  in  place 
of  school  work  during  the  time  a  pupil  was  actually  engaged 
in  farm  work  as  a  member  of  the  Junior  Industrial  Army, 
or  while  called  out  in  the  service  of  the  state  or  of  the 
nation  as  a  member  of  its  organized  military  forces.  (Boys 
and  girls  over  fourteen  years  of  age  are  allowed  to  enroll  in 
the  Industrial  Army  in  the  agricultural  or  home-garden  or 
the  girls'  service  division.) 

Possibly  no  great  harm  was  done  by  the  action 
of  these  state  officials  and  state  boards.  Yet  the 
action  affords  food  for  thought;  and  perhaps  the 
best  way  to  bring  about  reflection  is  to  pass  imme- 
diately, without  comment,  to  a  quotation  taken 
from  the  London  Times  of  July  19,  191 7,  —  a  quo- 
tation which  gives  a  picture  of  the  end  of  the  road 
on  which  some  of  us  in  this  country  started  in 
the  spring  of   191 7. 


144  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

The  reply,  last  week,  of  Herbert  A,  L.  Fisher,  Minister 
of  Education,  to  a  deputation  of  the  Committee  on  Wage- 
earning  Children  was  sympathetic  and  not  merely  a  com- 
mon-form shelving  of  the  issue.  The  deputation  asked  for 
legislation  restricting  the  labor  of  school  children  out  of 
school  hours.  The  extent  of  the  evil  was  indicated  by  the 
deputation,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  even  the  educational  public 
know  how  widespread  and  deleterious  it  is.  On  October  5, 
191 5,  we  pointed  out  that  nearly  half  a  million  children 
between  the  ages  of  12  and  14  years  were  receiving  no 
education,  or  no  education  worth  having,  and  that  all  of 
these  were  at  work  which  led  nowhither  at  the  very  age 
when  their  moral  and  physical  development  was  at  stake. 
Since  then  the  conditions  which  we  condemned  have  passed 
from  bad  to  worse.  Many  thousands  of  children  under  the 
age  of  12,  under  the  ages  of  even  10  and  11,  are  at  work, 
and  willingly  at  work,  since  the  younger  the  child,  the  more 
readily  it  responds  to  the  demand  for  helpfulness.  Mr,  Fisher 
cannot  but  realize  the  evil  of  this  exploitation  of  young  chil- 
dren by  parents  and  tradesmen.  It  is  an  evil  affecting  not 
only  the  efficiency  of  school  life  but  our  whole  economic 
system.  There  never  was  an  economic  need  for  this  child 
labor,  and  the  Board  of  Education  admitted  in  their  circular 
to  local  authorities  last  week  that  there  is  no  economic  need 
in  rural  districts  for  such  labor  even  now.  This  circular 
was  a  letter  from  the  National  Service  Department  and 
dealt  with  the  pressure  on  education  authorities  in  rural 
areas  to  release  boys  and  girls  under  12  for  service  on 
the  land.  The  letter  definitely  states  that,  in  view  of  the 
labor  released  from  the  army  and  the  number  of  women 
now  available,   ""  it  would  appear  that  there  should  be  no 


THE  WORK  IMPULSES  OF  YOUTH       145 

necessity  for  such  a  serious  interruption  as  is  contemplated 
of  the  education  of  the  nation's  children." 

This  should  suffice  to  determine  the  policy  of  the  rural- 
education  authorities.  But  the  position  in  towns  is  even 
more  urgent,  and  Mr.  Fisher  and  the  government  might  give 
additional  powers  to  local  authorities  to  deal  with  the  labor 
of  children  in  full-time  school  attendance.  It  was  certainly 
a  mistake  in  the  legislation  of  191 3  to  make  it  possible  for 
the  street  trading  of  such  children  to  receive  official  recog- 
nition. But  street  trading  is  not  the  chief  cause  of  anxiety. 
Another  is  the  employment  of  little  children  by  shopkeepers 
and  distributing  agencies  before  school,  in  the  dinner  inter- 
val, and  after  school.  The  local  authorities  should  be  empow- 
ered to  forbid  all  employment  for  wages  of  children  under  1 2 
and  to  restrict  within  very  narrow  limits  the  employment  of 
children  at  school  under  14. 

Naturally  Mr.  Fisher  must  not  overburden  or  imperil 
his  bill,  or  interfere  with  the  labor  necessary  for  the  war. 
He  cannot  be  expected  to  change  the  face  of  England  in 
a  moment.  But  he  can  strike  deep  without  disturbing  the 
organization  of  society.  He  can  transform  from  below  by 
ameliorating  the  conditions  of  very  young  children.  The 
country  is  ready  now  for  changes  that  seemed  Utopian 
two  years  ago.  By  means  of  nursery  schools  the  nation  is 
dealing  at  last  with  the  raw  material  that  is  to  be  the  Eng- 
land of  to-morrow.  The  same  principle  should  be  followed 
in  the  case  of  children  between  the  ages  of  6  and  1 2  years. 
The  physical  welfare  of  these  children  is  of  the  first 
importance.  Yet  between  these  ages  thousands,  through 
the  carrying  of  heavy  weights  and  other  means  of  over- 
strain, are  receiving  life-long  physical  injury.    All   efforts 


146  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

for  educational  reform  are  being  balked  by  their  employ- 
ment. The  elaborate  scheme  of  the  Half-Time  Council, 
which  was  reported  in  our  last  issue,  depends,  as  indeed 
practically  all  of  the  reform  schemes  and  Mr.  Fisher's  own 
proposals  depend,  on  the  physical  efficiency  of  the  children. 
The  deputation  asked  that  provision  should  be  made  for  the 
education  of  children  abnormally  employed  during  the  war. 

Out  of  all  the  literature  which  has  been  put 
forth  on  the  relationship  of  children  to  industry  in 
war  time  it  would  appear  that  Dr.  Claxton,  United 
States  Commissioner  of  Education,  most  adequately 
states  the  fundamental  principles,  in  his  circular 
letter  to  the  educational  authorities  of  the  country 
issued  in  June,  191 7.  Portions  of  his  letter  bear 
directly  upon  employment  of  children  in  time  of  war. 
Other  portions  are  closely  related  to  statements  in 
other  chapters.    It  is  well  worth  quoting  in  full : 

It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  there  shall  be  no 
lowering  in  the  efficiency  of  our  systems  of  education. 
Schools  and  other  agencies  of  education  must  be  main- 
tained at  whatever  necessary  cost  and  against  all  hurtful 
interference  with  their  regular  work  except  as  may  be 
necessary  for  the  national  defense,  which  is,  of  course,  our 
immediate  task  and  must  be  kept  constantly  in  mind  and 
have  right  of  way  everywhere  and  at  all  times.  From 
the  beginning  of  our  participation  in  the  war  we  should 
avoid  the  mistakes  which  some  other  countries  have  made 
to  their  hurt  and  which  they  are  now  trying  to  correct. 


THE  WORK  IMPULSES  OF  YOUTH       147 

If  the  war  should  be  long  and  severe,  there  will  be 
great  need  in  its  later  days  for  many  young  men  and 
women  of  scientific  knowledge,  training,  and  skill ;  and  it 
may  then  be  much  more  difficult  than  it  is  now  to  support 
our  schools,  to  spare  our  children  and  youth  from  other 
service,  and  to  permit  them  to  attend  school.  Therefore  no 
school  should  close  its  doors  now  or  shorten  its  term 
unnecessarily.  All  young  men  and  women  in  college 
should  remain  and  use  their  time  to  the  very  best  advan- 
tage, except  such  as  may  find  it  necessary  to  leave  for 
immediate  profitable  employment  in  some  productive  occu- 
pation or  for  the  acceptance  of  some  position  in  some 
branch  of  the  military  service,  which  position  cannot  be 
so  well  filled  by  anyone  else.  All  children  in  the  ele- 
mentary schools  and  as  nearly  as  possible  all  high-school 
pupils  should  remain  in  school  through  the  entire  session. 

When  the  war  is  over,  whether  within  a  few  months  or 
after  many  years,  there  will  be  such  demands  upon  this 
country  for  men  and  women  of  scientific  knowledge,  tech- 
nical skill,  and  general  culture  as  have  never  before  come 
to  any  country.  The  world  must  be  rebuilt.  This  country 
must  play  a  far  more  important  part  than  it  has  in  the 
past  in  agriculture,  manufacturing,  and  commerce,  and 
also  in  the  things  of  cultural  life  —  art,  literature,  music, 
scientific  discovery. 

Russia  and  China  are  awakening  to  new  life  and  are  on 
the  eve  of  great  industrial  development.  They  will  ask  of 
us  steel,  engines,  and  cars  for  railroads,  agricultural  imple- 
ments, and  machinery  for  industrial  plants.  They  will  also 
ask  for  men  to  install  these  and  to  direct  much  of  their 
development   in   every  line.     England,  France,  Italy,  and 


148  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

the  central  empires  have  thrown  into  battle  a  very  large 
per  cent  of  their  educated  and  trained  men,  including  most 
of  the  young  professors  and  instructors  in  their  universities, 
colleges,  and  gymnasia,  lyc^es,  and  public  schools.  Their 
colleges  and  universities  are  almost  empty.  The  young 
men  who  would  under  normal  conditions  be  receiving  the 
education  and  training  necessary  to  prepare  them  for  lead- 
ership in  the  future  development  of  these  countries  are 
fighting  and  dying  in  the  trenches.  All  these  countries 
must  needs  go  through  a  long  period  of  reconstruction, 
industrially  and  in  many  other  respects.  Our  own  trained 
men  and  women  should  be  able  and  ready  to  render  every 
possible  assistance.  It  should  be  remembered  that  the 
number  of  students  in  our  universities,  colleges,  normal 
schools,  and  technical  schools  is  very  small  as  compared 
with  the  total  number  of  persons  of  producing  age  — 
little  more  than  one  half  of  i  per  cent.  The  majority  of 
these  students  are  young  men  and  women  who  are  becom- 
ing more  mature  and  fit  for  service.  The  older  of  the 
60,000,000  men  and  women  of  producing  age  are  grow- 
ing more  unfit  and  are  passing  beyond  the  age  of  service. 
It  should  also  be  remembered  that  the  more  mature  the 
young  men  who  volunteer  for  service  in  the  army,  the  more 
valuable  their  services  will  be. 

Therefore  a  right  conception  of  patriotism  should  induce 
all  students  who  cannot  render  some  immediate  service  of 
great  value  to  remain  in  college,  concentrate  their  energies 
on  their  college  work,  and  thus  be  all  the  more  ready  and 
fit  when  their  services  may  be  needed  either  for  war  or  for 
the  important  work  of  reconstruction  and  development  in  our 
own  and  other  countries  when  the  war  shall  have  ended. 


THE  WORK  IMPULSES  OF  YOUTH       149 

All  schools,  of  whatever  grade,  should  remain  open  with 
their  full  quota  of  officers  and  teachers.  The  salaries  of 
teachers  should  not  be  lowered  in  this  time  of  unusual 
high  cost  of  living.  When  possible,  salaries  should  be 
increased  in  proportion  to  the  services  rendered.  Since 
the  people  will  be  taxed  heavily  by  the  federal  government 
for  the  payment  of  the  expenses  of  the  war,  teachers 
should  be  willing  to  continue  to  do  their  work,  and  do  it 
as  well  as  they  can,  as  a  patriotic  service,  even  if  their 
salaries  cannot  now  be  increased.  All  equipment  neces- 
sary for  the  best  use  of  the  time  of  teachers  and  students 
should  be  provided,  as  should  all  necessary  increase  of 
room,  but  costly  building  should  not  be  undertaken  now 
while  the  prices  of  building  material  are  excessively  high 
and  while  there  are  urgent  and  unfilled  demands  for  labor 
in  industries  pertaining  directly  and  immediately  to  the 
national  defense.  Schools  should  be  continued  in  full 
efficiency,  but  in  most  instances  costly  building  may  well 
be  postponed. 

During  school  hours  and  out  of  school,  on  mornings, 
afternoons,  Saturdays,  and  during  vacation  all  older  children 
and  youth  should  be  encouraged  and  directed  to  do  as  much 
useful  productive  work  as  they  can  without  interfering  with 
their  more  important  school  duties.  This  productive  work 
should  be  so  directed  as  to  give  it  the  highest  possible  value, 
both  economically  and  educationally.  For  children  and  youth 
in  schools  of  all  grades  there  will  be  need  of  more  effective 
moral  training,  and  provision  should  be  made  for  this. 
While  the  war  for  the  safety  of  democracy  is  in  progress, 
and  when  it  is  over,  there  will  be  greater  need  for  effective 
machinery  for  the  promotion  of  intelligent  discussion  of  the 


I50  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

principles  of  democracy  and  all  that  pertains  to  the  public 
welfare  of  local  communities,  counties,  states,  and  the  nation. 
To  this  end  every  schoolhouse  should  be  made  a  community 
center  and  civic  forum  with  frequent  meetings  for  the  discus- 
sion of  matters  of  public  interest  and  for  social  intercourse. 

One  phrase  in  Commissioner  Claxton's  letter  is 
especially  significant.  It  is  This  productive  work 
should  be  so  directed  as  to  give  it  the  highest  possible 
value,  both  economically  and  educationally.  In  this 
whole  question  of  children  and  industry  in  war 
time,  we  are  brought  face  to  face  with  several  facts. 
The  first  is  that  industry,  both  agricultural  and 
manufacturing,  will  demand  the  services  of  children. 
Second,  that  organizations  like  state  and  national 
child-labor  committees,  which  have  fought  for  the 
welfare  and  development  of  American  children,  will 
continue  to  oppose  all  attempts  to  break  down  the 
school  system  through  relaxation  of  the  enforce- 
ment of  compulsory-education  laws,  or  to  break 
down  the  labor  laws  either  by  giving  young  chil- 
dren special  permits  to  work  or  by  exempting  cer- 
tain establishments  from  the  laws  limiting  hours 
of  labor.  Third,  that  the  children  themselves  will 
desire  to  work  rather  than  go  to  school.  The  com- 
paratively high  wages  which  will  exist  during  a  war 
emergency  will  call  them  as  can  no  course  of  study. 
Fourth,    that   families    whose   earning   member   or 


THE  WORK  IMPULSES  OF  YOUTH       151 

members  are  off  to  war,  and  who  feel  in  addition 
the  higher  cost  of  hving,  will  look  upon  their  chil- 
dren as  being  a  possible  added  source  of  income. 
And  fifth,  that  school  authorities  will  thus  stand 
amidst  half  a  dozen  fires.  Some  will  back  against 
the  wall  and  say :  "  I  don't  believe  in  closing  the 
schools,"  "  Under  no  conditions  will  the  child-labor 
laws  in  this  state  be  relaxed,"  "  The  war  hysteria 
makes  me  enforce  child-labor  laws  more  vigorously 
than  ever,"  "  Children  have  plenty  of  time  to  garden 
after  school."  Others  will,  under  pressure,  lose  their 
heads,  and  shut  their  eyes  to  the  fact  that  children 
are  working  illegally.  Some  may  seek  for  a  "  reason- 
able excuse,"  and  they  can  find  plenty  of  such  ex- 
cuses by  referring  to  the  action  in  England.  Still 
others  will  go  on  peacefully  without  thought  or 
action  one  way  or  the  other.  But  the  rest,  and  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that  their  numbers  are  legion,  will 
try  to  discover  some  means  of  making  this  emer- 
gency count  in  an  educational  way.  Here  are  some 
of  the  factors  which  enter  into  the  situation. 

In  the  first  place,  children  like  to  work,  that  is, 
outside  of  school,  and  these  work  impulses  of  youth 
ought  to  be  organized  to  contribute  to  the  edu- 
cative process.  It  is  readily  enough  granted  that 
they  have  not  been  in  the  past.  In  fact,  these 
work  impulses  have  been  exploited  for  private  gain. 


152  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

Now,  on  account  of  the  war,  they  are  aroused  to 
a  high  pitch,  and  we  ought  to  be  able  to  organize 
them  in  connection  with  the  new  work  opportuni- 
ties for  higher  economic  efficiency  as  well  as  for 
higher  social  efficiency. 

In  the  second  place,  it  is  doubtful  whether  we 
can  much  longer  continue  the  policy  of  increasing 
the  regular  attendance  of  youth  at  school  without 
giving  some  consideration  to  the  educative  value  of 
labor.  The  educative  process  taken  in  its  largest 
sense  goes  on  for  twenty-four  hours  a  day.  It  con- 
cerns health,  character,  mental  capacity,  citizenship, 
and  useful  work.  To  most  people  the  educative  proc- 
ess merely  centers  around  the  schoolhouse,  and  such 
think  of  education  in  terms  of  schooling.  To  them, 
to  increase  the  number  of  years  that  youth  is 
obliged  to  go  to  school  is  to  increase  the  number  of 
years  given  over  directly  to  the  educative  process. 
But  the  child  goes  to  school  for  about  five  hours 
a  day  for  five  days  in  the  week  for  about  thirty-six 
weeks  in  the  year,  and  in  this  time  he  deals  largely 
with  books;  and  many  find  it  a  reasonable  excuse, 
because  they  are  "  going  to  school "  and  "  getting 
an  education,"  to  avoid  any  useful  work.  Now  some 
kinds  of  work  are  wholesome  and  educative.  Most 
farm  work  comes  in  the  class  of  useful  and  profit- 
able employment.    When  the  hours  are  not  too  long 


THE  WORK  IMPULSES  OF  YOUTH       153 

and  the  factories  and  stores  are  sanitary  and  the  pay 
is  reasonable,  work  in  these  places  may  be  profitable 
to  youth.  Because  this  is  not  always  the  case  is  no 
reason  why  we  should  not  attempt  to  make  it  so. 

It  would  seem  that  educators  now  occupy  a  stra- 
tegic position  from  which  they  may  exert  a  tre- 
mendous influence  in  the  direction  of  standardizing 
the  work  of  juveniles  in  terms  of  the  deepest  social 
significance,  and  a  good  start  in  this  direction  may  be 
made  in  meeting  the  war  emergency.  The  subject  is 
so  large  and  the  previous  discussion  of  it  so  limited 
that  we  have  not  very  much  background  on  which 
to  work,  and  it  is  not  advisable  at  this  time  to  do 
more  than  merely  hint  at  some  possible  procedures. 

First,  why  not  have  the  rural  schools  for  children 
up  to  12  years  of  age  open  early  in  September  and 
close  the  first  of  August,  and  make  provision  for 
stopping  the  school  work  of  the  youngest  children 
during  the  winter  months  in  those  parts  of  the 
country  where  it  is  difficult  for  them  to  reach 
school }  Why  not  organize  classes  in  dandelion 
digging,  berry  picking,  currant  picking,  and  even, 
once  in  a  while,  weeding,  by  having  a  series  of  field 
and  harvesting  days  under  the  direction  of  the 
school  teacher  with  the  cooperation  of  the  parents  ? 
Why  not  have  able-bodied  boys  in  these  rural 
schools    released    from   book   work    in    April    and 


154  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

remain  out  of  school  until  the  first  of  November, 
and  then  require  them  to  attend  school  faithfully 
for  six  days  a  week  during  the  rest  of  the  year? 
Why  not  have  the  boys  between  14  and  16  drop 
out  of  school  in  June  and  July  to  pick  small  fruits 
and  berries  and  to  work  in  vegetable  gardens  ? 
Under  certain  conditions,  in  regions  where  such 
service  can  be  used,  —  which  is  not  often,  —  they 
might  stay  out  in  September  to  pick  fruits  and 
gather  small  crops. 

Of  course  it  is  to  be  expected  that  the  answer 
to  all  of  these  questions  will  be  a  most  emphatic 
No.  Yet  they  have  not  been  set  up  primarily 
because  the  farmer  tells  us  that  he  needs  labor, 
but  rather  because  it  is  felt  that  boys  need  labor; 
that  is,  useful  labor. 

Second,  why  not  devise  in  cities  a  scheme  of 
part-time  education  for  youths  between  14  and  18 
years  of  age  who  will  be  needed  in  the  war 
emergency  in  factories  and  stores,  as  well  as  for 
youths  who  need  useful  labor  as  a  part  of  the 
educative  process?  If  the  war  falls  heavily  upon 
us  in  America,  we  shall  find  that  these  children 
will  go  anyway.  We  shall  find  that  the  male 
teachers  who  teach  them  will  be  drafted.  We  may 
even  find  —  although  it  is  hoped  not  —  that  the 
school    buildings   will    be    taken    over   for  military 


THE  WORK  IMPULSES  OF  YOUTH       155 

purposes.  But  I  am  not  thinking  particularly  of 
war  needs.  I  am  thinking  of  child  needs.  England 
proposes  to  reintroduce  into  the  school  system 
children  who  are  now  abnormally  employed  in 
the  war.  It  further  proposes  to  develop  out  of 
its  war  experience,  on  a  large  scale,  the  part-time 
and  continuation-school  idea.  It  is  reported  that 
in  France  a  part-time  and  continuation-school  bill 
will  be  introduced  in  19 18. 

Now  why  not  take  hold  of  this  whole  matter 
of  juvenile  employment  in  a  constructive  way? 
As  long  as  war  is  upon  us  we  have  better  oppor- 
tunity than  ever  of  passing  through  the  legislature 
part-time  and  continuation-school  measures.  We 
have  at  the  same  time,  out  of  all  the  experience 
of  England,  every  opportunity  to  formulate  laws 
for  the  employment  of  juveniles  in  a  way  which 
will  not  break  down  the  educative  process,  but 
will  rather  build  it  up ;  and  above  everything  else 
we  ought  to  enforce  strictly  all  child-labor  and 
compulsory-education  laws  which  we  have  on  the 
statute  books.  We  may  modify  them,  if  we  will, 
to  meet  war  emergencies,  if  it  appears  absolutely 
necessary,  but  better  than  that,  we  may  reconstruct 
them  in  the  interests  of  the  educative  value  of 
labor  when  combined  with  proper  rules  and  regu- 
lations relative  to  the  employment  of  children. 


156  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

Furthermore,  why  not  find  some  way  of  bring- 
ing agriculture  into  the  educative  process  of  the 
city  boy  ?  Would  it  not  be  a  good  idea  to  establish 
country  branches  for  city  schools,  providing  for  the 
older  boys  a  winter  course  of  study  in  the  science 
of  agriculture,  together  with  the  ordinary  academic 
branches  of  secondary-school  education,  followed  in 
the  spring  by  practice  in  an  agricultural  training 
camp  ?  Later  on  in  the  season  they  would  go  out 
to  work  individually  or  in  groups  for  farmers.  (See 
chapter  on  "  Farm  Cadets.")  The  older  of  these 
boys  would  make  admirable  assistant  teachers  and 
supervisors  for  the  younger  group  of  14-year-old 
to  15-year-old  boys  who  would  be  sent  to  these 
camps  after  schools  had  closed.  We  cannot  much 
longer  avoid  the  question  of  bringing  agriculture 
to  the  city  boy  or,  rather,  taking  the  city  boy  to 
agriculture ;  and  the  past  summer's  experience  with 
city  boys  working  on  farms  brought  forcibly  to  our 
attention  the  advantages  of  a  closer  relationship 
between  city  children  and  country  life. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  the  modification  in 
191 7  of  the  school-attendance  law  of  New  York 
State.  Three  sections  of  the  act  by  which  these 
modifications  were  made  are  quoted  in  full,  as  they 
represent  legislative  action  as  well  as  discretionary 
powers  of  the  state  educational  ofiicial. 


THE  WORK  IMPULSES  OF  YOUTH       157 

Section  i.  The  provisions  of  Art.  XXHI  of  the  educa- 
tion law,  relative  to  the  compulsory  education  of  children, 
may,  in  the  discretion  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education, 
be  suspended  for  the  period  between  the  first  day  of  April 
and  the  first  day  of  November  of  each  year,  or  any  portion 
thereof,  during  the  time  that  this  act  shall  remain  in  effect, 
for  the  purpose  of  aiding  and  performing  labor  in  the  culti- 
vation, production,  and  care  of  food  products  upon  farms 
and  gardens  within  the  state.  Such  suspension  shall  be 
subject  to  such  conditions,  restrictions,  and  limitations  as 
may  be  imposed  by  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  and 
shall  be  subject  to  rules  and  regulations  to  be  prescribed 
by  him.  In  case  of  such  suspension,  provision  shall  be 
made  for  the  welfare  and  protection  of  the  children  affected 
thereby,  and  during  the  period  of  such  suspension  and  while 
engaged  in  such  work,  they  shall  be  under  the  supervision 
and  direction  of  the  school  authorities  of  the  city  or  district 
in  which  they  reside.  .  .  . 

Section  4.  A  pupil  in  the  public  schools  or  in  any 
state  school  or  institution  who  is  relieved  from  school  work 
and  is  engaged  satisfactorily  in  agricultural  service  during 
the  present  school  year  shall  be  given  credit  for  the  work 
of  the  present  term  without  examination,  on  the  certificate 
of  the  person  in  charge  of  such  school  or  institution  that 
his  work  therein  up  to  the  time  of  engaging  in  such  service 
is  satisfactory.  A  pupil  in  such  school  or  institution  who 
engages  in  such  service  during  the  present  school  year  shall 
not  incur  any  loss  of  standing  or  credit  on  account  of  such 
service.  All  pupils  in  public  schools  who  are  candidates 
for  college-entrance  diplomas  or  other  credentials  to  be 
issued  to  them  at  the  close  of  the  present  school  year  shall 


158  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

be  granted  such  diplomas  or  credentials  on  the  certificate 
of  the  principal  of  the  school  that  their  work  up  to  the 
time  of  engaging  in  such  service  is  satisfactory.  The 
Regents  of  the  University  shall  make  rules  for  the  purpose 
of  giving  credit  to  pupils  in  the  public  schools  who  have 
been  in  attendance  at  school  during  the  present  school  year 
and  who  have  left  the  schools  for  the  purpose  of  rendering 
agricultural  or  industrial  service. 

Section  5.  The  Commissioner  of  Education  shall  cause 
appropriate  certificates  or  badges  to  be  prepared  and  issued 
to  pupils  in  the  schools  of  the  state  who  shall  perform  satis- 
factory agricultural  or  industrial  service  under  rules  and 
regulations  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  compulsory-attendance 
law  was  suspended  only  between  certain  periods 
and  at  the  discretion  of  the  Commissioner  of  Edu- 
cation, and  for  the  sole  purpose  of  permitting 
children  to  labor  in  the  cultivation,  production, 
and  care  of  food  products  upon  farms  and  gardens 
within  the  state. 

This  bill  did  not  authorize  the  employment  of 
girls  in  general  domestic  service.  No  provision  of 
the  labor  law  was  repealed,  suspended,  or  modified, 
and  the  provisions  of  the  labor  law  relating  to  the 
employment  of  children  in  canneries  or  in  any 
factory  or  mercantile  establishment  still  remain 
in  force.  It  is  true  that  a  bill  suspending  tempo- 
rarily in  whole  or  in  part,  at  the  discretion  of  the 


THE  WORK  IMPULSES  OF  YOUTH       159 

Industrial  Commission,  provisions  of  the  labor  law 
•in  relation  to  any  employment  in  the  state  passed 
the  two  legislative  bodies,  but  this  was  wisely  vetoed 
by  Governor  Whitman. 

It  will  be  further  noticed  that  the  children  thus 
employed  within  the  dates  mentioned  are  to  be 
under  the  supervision  and  direction  of  the  school 
authorities  in  the  city  or  district  in  which  such 
children  reside.  The  Commissioner  of  Education 
thereupon  issued  certain  regulations  relating  to 
children  who  might  be  employed  within  the  com- 
pulsory school  ages.    A  brief  summary  follows: 

Boys  only,  1 5  years  of  age  and  above,  residing  in  cities. 

Boys  only,  14  years  of  age  and  above,  residing  elsewhere 
than  in  a  city. 

Girls,  1 4  years  of  age,  and  above,  residing  outside  of  cities, 
may  work  at  home  in  the  district  in  which  such  girls  re- 
side, or  at  a  place  sufficiently  near  such  girls'  homes  as  to 
afford  supervision  by  their  parents. 

No  child  shall  be  employed  or  permitted  to  work  on 
farms  and  gardens  until  such  child  shall  obtain  a  farm- 
garden  permit. 

No  child  shall  receive  a  farm-garden  permit  who  does 
not  present  to  the  issuing  officer  the  written  consent  of  his 
parent  or  guardian  and  who  is  not  found  to  be  physically 
competent  to  perform  the  labor  proposed. 

In  the  chapter  on  "Our  Colleges  and  Technical 
Institutes "   reference  was  made  to  resolutions  of 


l6o  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

the  Board  of  Regents  and  to  the  fact  that  the 
State  Education  Department  formulated  a  plan 
for  enlisting  and  placing  high-school  boys  on  the 
farms,  for  directing  and  supervising  the  work  of 
such  boys,  and  for  the  adjustment  of  school  credits. 
With  this  resolution  in  mind  the  Commissioner 
of  Education  sent  out,  on  April  i6,  the  follow- 
ing letter  to  all  school  superintendents  and  school 
principals  of  the  state. 

To  meet  the  present  national  emergency,  the  New  York 
State  Education  Department,  after  careful  consideration, 
issues  the  following  regulations  concerning  matters  that 
vitally  affect  the  interests  of  the  pupils  of  the  secondary 
schools  of  the  state. 

1.  The  June  Regents'  examinations  will  be  given  as 
previously  announced  for  all  pupils  who  remain  regularly 
in  school  and  also  for  pupils  who  may  enlist  for  service 
and  who  wish  to  take  the  examinations  and  are  situated  so 
that  they  can  do  so.  For  the  latter  class  the  time  require- 
ment will  be  waived. 

2.  Announcement  is  made  to  all  the  schools  of  the  state 
that  any  pupil  who  enlists  for  military  service  or  who  enlists 
for  and  renders  satisfactory  agricultural  or  industrial  service 
will  be  credited  with  the  work  of  the  present  term  without 
examination  on  the  certificate  of  the  school  that  his  work 
up  to  the  time  of  enlistment  is  satisfactory. 

3.  Candidates  for  college-entrance  diplomas  who  are  in 
the  graduating  class  of  19 17  will  be  granted  the  diploma 
on  certificate  of  the  principal  that  their  work  up  to  the  time 


THE  WORK  IMPULSES  OF  YOUTH       i6i 

of  enlistment  is  satisfactory.    The  average  standing  will  be 
computed  on  the  basis  of  the  examinations  already  passed, 

4.  Appropriate  certificates  will  be  prepared  to  be  issued 
to  those  pupils  in  the  schools  who  shall  enlist  for  agricul- 
tural or  industrial  service  and  who  shall  present  satisfactory 
evidence  of  such  service. 

5.  That  all  other  questions  regarding  conditions  affecting 
the  19 1 8  high-school  class  be  held  in  abeyance  to  await 
developments. 

It  is  believed  that  principals,  teachers,  and  pupils  in  all 
secondary  schools  of  the  state  will  appreciate  the  vital  im- 
portance of  prompt  action  in  the  present  crisis  and  that 
each  will  esteem  it  a  privilege  to  "do  his  bit "  for  the 
common  good. 

As  soon  as  the  schoolboys  of  the  state  knew 
of  this  letter,  they  all  seemed  to  hear  very  suddenly 
of  jobs  on  farms,  but  some,  rather  unfortunately, 
failed  to  continue  to  hear  this  call  when  the  end 
of  the  school  year  came  and  they  could  no  longer 
receive  school  credit  for  work  on  the  farm  because, 
of  course,  school  had  closed.  It  being  likely  that 
there  would  be  the  same  general  tendency  for  the 
boys  to  discover  work  on  farms  about  the  first  of 
September  when  the  schools  open,  it  was  thought 
well  to  have  a  clear  understanding  of  the  condi- 
tions of  release  of  boys  for  farm  work  in  the  fall. 
Of  course  a  great  many  boys  were  out  of  school 
during  May  and  June  and  continued  to  work  all 


l62  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

summer  on  individual  farms  or  in  camps  with 
other  boys,  but  "  slackers  "  wanted  to  stop  as  soon 
as  they  received  their  school  credit,  and  the  same 
slackers  might  be  just  as  slack  in  returning  to 
school,  hence  the  following  letter  issued  by  the 
Commissioner  of   Education  on   August  ii,  191 7: 

To  Superintendents,  Principals,  and  Boards  of  Education  : 

In  answer  to  many  inquiries  as  to  releasing  boys  for 
farm  service  this  fall,  and  in  response  to  the  appeal  of  the 
Food  Supply  Commission,  which  states  the  imperative  need 
of  such  labor  as  the  youth  of  this  state  can  give  in  harvest- 
ing the  crops,  I  would  urge  the  educational  authorities  of 
the  state  in  those  sections  where  the  need  exists  to  make 
all  possible  provision  for  the  special  tuition  of  those  pupils 
who  may,  under  the  labor  laws  of  the  state  and  the  com- 
pulsory-education laws,  legally  engage  in  such  service.  Such 
special  instruction,  either  after  hours  or  in  holiday  periods, 
may  be  the  special  patriotic  contribution  of  some  teachers 
to  meet  the  need  which  seems  at  present  to  demand  what- 
ever cooperation  the  school  authorities  can  give.  This  will 
be  most  easily  arranged  by  limiting  the  enlistments,  as  far 
as  possible,  to  the  upper  classes,  and  by  arranging  for  work 
in  relays,  so  that  the  period  of  absences  may  not  be  unnec- 
essarily long.  We  ought  not  to  remit  in  the  slightest  our 
educational  requirements  and  disciplines,  nor  take  children 
or  youth  out  of  the  educational  processes,  but  we  ought  to 
do  all  that  we  can,  on  the  other  hand,  to  make  it  possible 
for  the  boys  of  proper  age  and  strength  to  perform  this 
service  when  it  is  of  real  public  necessity. 


THE  WORK  IMPULSES  OF  YOUTH       163 

The  department,  wishing  to  cooperate  to  this  end,  makes 
the  following  determination,  effective  until  November  i,  1917  : 

The  time  of  study  requirements  for  admission  to  the 
Regents'  examinations,  in  January  and  June,  19 18,  may  be 
waived  in  the  case  of  any  pupil  who  presents  evidence  that 

a.  He  was  regularly  registered  in  school  at  or  near  the 
beginning  of  the  term  in  September,  19 17.  (Boys  already 
at  work  at  a  distance  from  the  school  may,  with  the  permis- 
sion of  the  local  principal,  register  by  mail.) 

b.  He  was  released  by  the  principal  from  school  for  agri- 
cultural service. 

c.  He  was  actually  and  satisfactorily  engaged  in  needed 
agricultural  service  while  absent  from  school. 

This  privilege  should  be  interpreted  conservatively. 
School  authorities  should  excuse  pupils  from  this  service 
only  where  the  need  is  urgent  and  where  it  is  possible  to 
maintain  such  supervision  that  certificate  of  the  facts  can  be 
made  from  certain  knowledge. 

During  the  summer  and  fall  of  191 7,  schoolboys 
from  Maine  to  California  responded  to  the  nation's 
call  for  increased  food  production.  Other  seasons  of 
scarcity  of  labor,  with  the  shortage  of  farm  and 
garden  products  and  resultant  high  prices,  are 
doubtless  before  us.  Indeed,  we  are  told  that  for 
five  years  at  least  we  are  to  continue  to  feel  the 
stress  of  labor  shortage  due  to  war  and  other  condi- 
tions. The  United  States  Boys'  Working  Reserve, 
through  state  councils  of  defense  and  state  and 
national  departments  of  labor  and  agriculture,  will 


l64  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

continue  to  issue  proclamations  calling  upon  youth 
to  serve  the  nation.  Legislatures  will  pass  or  amend 
laws  permitting  absences  from  school  for  industrial 
and  farm  service.  State  educational  officials  will 
issue  edicts  interpreting  legislative  action.  Schools 
will  devise  methods  of  giving  school  credit  for  useful 
service.  Boys  will  again  leave  school  to  earn  and 
serve.  Parents  will  continue  to  speak  with  pride  of 
the  earning  of  their  lads  or  complain  about  their 
treatment.  Farmers  will  recall  their  first  experi- 
ences with  city  boys.  Everything  will  center  about 
products,  laws,  rules,  school  credits,  and  dollars. 

Few  of  us  will  think  of  the  deeper  significance  of 
what  is  behind.  We  shall  hardly  realize  that  the  law- 
makers have  thought  only  of  a  possible  increase  of 
acreage  under  cultivation,  or  increased  production 
in  factories ;  that  the  farmers  and  the  manufacturers 
had  visions  merely  of  good  labor  at  a  low  figure; 
that  the  parents  saw  only  an  opportunity  for  a 
"change  for  the  boy";  that  the  boy  had  in  mind 
only  a  spending  account  and  release  from  school. 

We  shall  forget  our  unscientific  experiments,  the 
light  handling  and  selfish  exploitation  we  have 
given  to  that  wonderful  possession  of  youth  —  the 
work  impulses.  And  the  question  we  should  ask 
ourselves  is,  What  educational  justification  have  we 
for  this  service  which  the  boys  have  rendered  .f* 


CHAPTER  VII 

ORGANIZED  BOY  POWER  VS.  MILITARY  DRILL 

The  war  has  already  brought  about  drastic  eco- 
nomic changes  in  Europe.  The  recall  of  men  from 
the  trenches  to  perform  a  more  useful  professional 
and  industrial  service  behind  the  lines  has  demon- 
strated the  importance  of  the  supporting  civilian 
army.  From  the  viewpoint  of  the  individual,  nothing 
can  equal  the  supreme  sacrifice  of  a  life.  "What 
good,"  wailed  a  Yiddish  woman  on  the  East  Side  of 
New  York  City,  "  is  a  free  country  to  me  if  my  Abie 
is  killed  ? "  But  in  the  judgment  of  the  nation  the 
garment  worker,  Abie,  who  is  drafted  into  service  in 
the  army  is  of  no  greater  value  than  his  friend  the 
skilled  machinist  who  is  allowed  to  remain  in  his 
present  occupation.  The  military  exemptions  of  men 
in  European  armies,  the  adoption  of  the  selective 
draft  in  the  United  States,  are  acknowledgments  of 
the  equality  of  the  military  and  the  civilian  occupa- 
tions indispensable  to  military  activity.  To  include 
in  our  educational  law  such  a  recognition,  adopting 
a  measure  permitting  the  substitution  of  types  of 

vocational  training  for  military  training,  is  but  to 

165 


i66  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

follow  the  lead  of  the  national  government  in  declar- 
ing such  exemptions  a  military  necessity.  New  York 
State  has  made  a  beginning  in  this  direction. 

In  191 6  the  legislature  enacted  the  so-called 
"  Welsh-Slater  "  bills,  making  military  and  physical 
training  compulsory  in  the  secondary  schools  of 
the  state  for  boys  above  16  and  under  19  years 
of  age.  Such  military  training  is  to  aggregate  not 
more  than  three  hours  each  week  between  Sep- 
tember first  of  each  year  and  June  fifteenth  of  the 
next.  The  law  further  provides,  within  the  limits 
of  appropriation,  for  the  establishment  of  military 
camps  with  attendance  of  from  two  to  four  weeks. 
While  the  operation  of  these  camps  and,  indeed, 
the  introduction  of  military  drill,  have  been  imper- 
fectly carried  out,  owing  to  the  lack  of  suitable 
state  appropriation  to  carry  on  the  work  on  the 
necessary  and  large  scale  for  a  working  boy  and 
schoolboy  population  of  240,000,  it  is  the  intention 
of  the  Military  Training  Commission  to  insist  on 
the  requirements  of  the  law. 

The  law  as  passed  in  1916  contained  a  significant 
clause  relative  to  the  excusing  of  boys  exempted 
by  the  Military  Training  Commission.  It  was  felt 
by  the  critics  of  the  bill  that,  although  the  law 
requiring  military  and  physical  training  was  a  move- 
ment   in    the    right    direction,  it   left    much    to    be 


ORGANIZED  BOY  POWER  167 

desired.  The  ambiguous  word  "  exemptions  "  is  one 
subject  to  fine  distinctions.  Furthermore,  it  was 
felt  that  the  law  was  essentially  one  of  discrimina- 
tion. The  schoolboy  of  16  to  19  was  in  an  exclu- 
sive military  class,  set  apart,  in  his  capacity  to  be 
trained  for  national  service,  from  the  employed  boy 
of  the  same  years. 

It  is  not  easy  to  justify  the  selection  of  the  high- 
school  pupils  of  the  state  as  the  only  young  people 
who  shall  be  the  recipients  of  military  training.  The 
report  of  the  New  Jersey  commission  appointed 
to  study  military  training  in  its  relation  to  high 
schools  covers  this  point  admirably. 

The  duty  of  the  common  defense  is  one  which  belongs 
properly  to  all  who  are  physically  capable,  and  none  should 
be  deprived  of  the  opportunity  of  qualifying  himself,  if  such 
opportunity  is  offered  to  any,  to  perform  this  duty  effec- 
tively. It  cannot  be  claimed  that  the  boys  of  the  high 
schools  are  exceptional,  and  that  they  are  the  only  ones 
who  can  receive  this  instruction  profitably.  If  there  is  any 
advantage  in  it,  all  boys  equal  in  age  and  physique  to  high- 
school  boys  can  receive  it  with  equal  probability  of  profit. 
If  it  is  claimed  that  the  reason  for  providing  this  instruc- 
tion for  the  high  schools  is  that  the  pupils  can  best  afford 
the  time  for  it,  it  must  be  answered  that  very  many  of 
these  derive  an  income  from  labor  out  of  school  hours 
which  enables  them  to  attend  school.  These  are  as  worthy 
of  exemption  from  military  instruction  as  those  who  leave 


1 68  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

school  because  they  lack  the  ambition  to  continue  their 
education,  or  because  they  are  compelled  to  do  so  by  circum- 
stances. Whether  this  instruction  is  compulsory  or  optional 
with  pupils  of  the  high  schools,  if  required  or  offered  at 
all,  it  should  apply  to  all  boys,  out  of  school  as  well  as  in 
school,  of  prescribed  ages  and  strength. 

Military  training  and  service,  if  they  are  necessary,  are 
obligations  of  citizenship,  not  of  education  alone. 

It  is  difficult  to  contemplate  with  satisfaction  or  even 
complacency  the  social  cleavage  which  is  bound  to  result 
from  a  system  of  military  instruction  which  is  applied  to 
high-school  pupils  and  not  to  other  boys.  To  assign  or 
reserve  the  privilege,  or  duty,  or  obligation,  however  it  is 
regarded,  of  preparing  to  fight  for  the  country  to  the  better- 
educated  class  is  just  as  repugnant  to  democratic  ideals  as 
was  the  practice  in  days  long  gone  by  of  leaving  it  to  the 
nobility.  To  select  high-school  pupils  for  this  training  is 
open  to  the  same  objection  as  would  be  a  plan  of  selecting 
adults  for  actual  military  service  solely  on  the  basis  of  their 
occupations  or  professions  —  a  plan  which  would  receive  no 
consideration. 

Military  authorities  admit  that  the  fundamental  aim  of 
every  form  of  military  training  must  be  to  cultivate  physical 
health  and  strength.  As  Dr.  George  Fisher,  secretary  of  the 
Physical  Department,  International  Committee,  Y.M.C.A., 
and  a  member  of  the  New  York  State  Military  Training 
Commission,  puts  it,  "  In  the  training  camps  in  England 
it  takes  a  full  year  to  get  the  men  in  condition  after  they 
enlist.  England's  experience  in  this  war  indicates  that  the 
big  problem  is  not  primarily  the  training  of  the  men  on  mili- 
tary tactics  or  drill,  but  conditioning  the  men.    Therefore 


ORGANIZED  BOY  POWER 


169 


the  lesson  to  us  should  be  to  discover  what  methods  can  best 
be  used  to  put  and  keep  men  in  good  physical  condition." 
If  any  evidence  of  the  accuracy  of  this  opinion  were 
needed,  it  is  necessary  only  to  consult  the  records  of  the 
United  States  War  Department.  The  following  table  shows 
the  number  of  applicants  for  enlistment  in  the  United  States 
army,  furnished  by  the  several  recruiting  districts,  together 
with  the  number  accepted  or  rejected  in  said  districts,  fiscal 
years  ending  June  30,  191 1  to  June  30,  1915  : 


Total 
Number 
OF  Appli- 
cants 

Accepted 

Rejected 

Number 

Per  cent  of 
total  appli- 
cants 

Number 

Per  cent  of 
total  appli- 
cants 

Total  for  five  years 

747,704 

157,043 

21 

590,661 

79 

In  order,  therefore,  that  all  citizens  may  be  properly 
trained  and  prepared  to  perform  effectively  all  their  duties, 
no  matter  what  they  may  be,  we  recommend  and  strongly 
urge  that  the  necessary  steps  be  taken  to  provide  for  all 
the  schools  of  the  state  a  complete  and  thorough  system 
of  physical  training.  This  system  should  be  compulsory  for 
all  pupils,  and  should  include  carefully  selected  exercises 
adapted  to  the  different  ages  of  pupils,  and  designed  to 
protect  their  health,  stimulate  bodily  functions,  and  promote 
physical  strength.  It  should  apply  to  all  girls  as  well  as 
boys.  It  should  aim  to  prevent  bodily  abnormalities  or  de- 
formities, or  to  correct  them  if  they  are  found  to  exist.  It 
should  include  personal  and  community  sanitation,  first  aid 
in  emergencies,  bandaging,  and  all  forms  of  instruction  in 
personal  safety.     It  should  encourage  outdoor  activities.    It 


I70  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

should  provide  abundant  games  for  all  pupils  in  which  group 
activities  are  prominent,  and  in  which  appeal  may  be  made 
to  the  spirit  of  competition.  It  may  include  those  features  of 
military  drill  which  properly  serve  the  purposes  of  physical 
training,  but  which  must  be  regarded  as  subordinate  to  these 
purposes.  It  may  even  include  practice  with  the  miniature 
or  the  service  rifle,  if  such  practice  is  regarded  as  necessary 
to  develop  steadiness  of  nerve,  bodily  control,  and  accuracy 
of  sight.  In  the  case  of  such  exercises  the  educational  error 
does  not  lie  in  their  use,  but  in  the  exaggerated  military 
purpose  which  they  are  made  to  serve.  All  the  features  and 
exercises  of  the  thorough  course  of  physical  training  which 
we  recommend  should  be  intimately  connected  and  interre- 
lated, on  the  one  hand  with  the  moral  or  character-forming 
instruction  of  the  schools  and  on  the  other  with  the  com- 
plete provisions  for  medical  inspection  which  have  already 
been  made  compulsory  by  law. 

Now  boy  service  should  be  democratic.  The  ex- 
emptions, whatever  they  are,  must  be  made  on  a 
basis  of  the  equality  of  the  schoolboy  and  the  boy 
engaged  in  wage-earning.  A  boy  should  not  be 
excused  from  his  rightful  preparedness  training  be- 
cause he  happens  to  be  employed  as  a  bell  boy  in 
a  metropolitan  hotel.  Such  work  is  not  industrially 
productive,  nor  could  any  devised  system  of  mili- 
tary equivalents  make  it  a  substitution  for  personal 
contribution  to  national  preparedness. 

In  the  spring  of  191 7  the  legislature  amended 
the  law  to  include  all  boys  —  a  drafting  of  the  boy 


ORGANIZED  BOY  POWER  171 

power  of  the  state  in  much  the  same  way  that  the 
European  nations  in  conflict  make  provisions  for 
the  full  utilization  of  man  power.  An  additional 
amendment,  as  stated  in  chapter  49,  Laws  of  191 7, 
reads : 

Such  requirement  as  to  military  training  may,  in  the 
discretion  of  the  commission,  be  met  in  part  by  such  voca- 
tional training  or  vocational  experience  as  will,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  commission,  specifically  prepare  boys  of  the  ages 
named  for  service  useful  to  the  state,  in  the  maintenance 
of  defense,  in  the  promotion  of  public  safety,  in  the  con- 
servation and  development  of  the  state's  resources,  or  in 
the  construction  and  maintenance  of  public  improvement. 

The  commission  was  given  power  to  establish 
a  bureau  of  vocational  training.  This,  through 
careful  inspection  of  the  work  of  boys  of  the  ages 
named  in  industrial,  commercial,  and  agricultural 
pursuits,  will  determine  the  types  of  vocational 
training  or  vocational  experience  which,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  commission,  specifically  prepare 
boys   for   service    useful    to   the    state. 

Such  a  bureau  would,  under  normal  conditions, 
appoint  a  few  inspectors  and  investigators  to  study 
conditions  in  order  that  carefully  laid  plans  might 
be  made  for  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the 
amendment.  But  war  emergency  in  the  matter  of 
food  supply  gave  the  Military  Training  Commission 


172  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

an  opportunity  to  organize  at  short  notice  one 
branch  of  mihtary-equivalent  service,  that  is,  the 
farm-cadet  unit,  and  it  extended  an  offer  of  assist- 
ance to  the  Food  Supply  Commission  to  organize 
farm-cadet  bureaus  in  each  of  the  six  miHtary 
zones  of  the  state.  Through  these  the  MiHtary 
Training  Commission  has  been  useful  in  placing 
boys  upon  farms,  and  in  following  up  such  farm 
service  with  a  view  not  only  to  determining  its 
merit  as  an  equivalent  or  partial  equivalent  for 
military  service  but  also  (with  the  cooperation  of 
church  and  business  organizations,  the  Y.  M.  C.A., 
and  the  Boy  Scouts)  to  giving  the  task  which 
these  boys  have  been  doing  on  the  farms  its 
proper  place  in  relation  to  the  physical,  mental, 
and  social  ideals  which  lie  outside  the  hard  and 
often  unfamiliar  round  of  field  w^ork. 

Important  as  this  farm-cadet  service  has  been  in 
the  matter  of  looking  toward  increased  production, 
a  more  significant  work  to  be  developed  by  the 
Bureau  of  Vocational  Training  is  that  of  interpreting 
the  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  amendment  already 
referred  to,  which  states  that  provisions  for  the 
military-training  requirement  may  be  met  in  part 
by  certain  types  of  vocational  training  or  vocational 
experience.  The  whole  program  of  physical,  mili- 
tary,   and    vocational    training    is    most    significant, 


ORGANIZED  BOY  POWER  173 

wholesome,  and  far-reaching.  It  is  a  program  of 
universal  training  which  will  be  serviceable  for  war 
and  peace  alike  —  a  program  which  will  require  every 
boy  to  prepare  himself  to  offer  some  service  in  case 
of  need,  and  which  stamps  that  service  as  equally 
patriotic  with  the  narrower  military  service  in  which 
most  of  the  world's  supreme  valors  have  been  re- 
corded. As  John  Finley,  Commissioner  of  Educa- 
tion in  New  York  State  and  one  of  the  members 
of  its  Military  Training  Commission,  puts  it : 

In  this  amended  law  we  have  a  program  providing,  on 
the  one  hand,  for  the  defensive  training  of  the  soldier  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  for  the  effective  mobilization  of  the  re- 
sources of  the  nation  in  training  boys  for  vocations  —  which 
training  of  itself  exalts  and  identifies  as  patriotic  service  all 
the  effective  activities  of  our  everyday  life.  It  is  a  con- 
structive provision  for  what  would  have  to  be  done  other- 
wise in  time  of  need  through  exemptions. 

England  has  had  to  reach  such  a  program  through  an 
exempting  provision  in  her  plan  of  cooperative  service. 
France  has  had  to  come  to  it  by  taking  men  from  the 
front  for  service  behind  the  lines,  Germany  is  finding  it 
necessary,  in  the  midst  of  war,  to  organize  her  entire  man 
power. 

It  is  most  important  that  this  vocational  training 
or  experience  should  be  conscious  service.  The  boy 
who  offers  it  must  clearly  understand  why  it  is 
accepted    in    part   for   the    required    military   drill. 


174  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

To  fail  to  inform  him  is  to  take  from  his  miHtary 
equivalent  the  educational  value  given  it  by  the  law. 
Dr.  Finley,  in  his  inimitable  way,  expresses 
this  conscious  service  as  it  might  apply  to  an  adult 
loyal  citizenship: 

I  make  this  idea  graphic  to  myself  by  thinking  that 
every  man  has  an  imaginary  uniform  (as  every  German 
soldier  and  French  soldier  had  in  waiting  his  green-gray  or 
his  blue  and  red  uniform),  an  imaginary  uniform  of  his 
own  measurements  always  in  readiness  in  home  or  shop  or 
office  or  in  some  public  locker,  that  he  may  don  at  call  of 
his  community,  state,  or  nation,  or  perhaps  at  world  need, 
when  under  compulsion  he  goes  to  vote,  to  pay  his  taxes, 
to  fight  against  dishonesty,  inefficiency,  or  waste,  to  inform 
himself  upon  public  questions,  or  upon  his  public  duties, 
just  as  one  studies  tactics  in  order  to  help  in  his  country's 
defense,  or  goes  to  school  as  an  alien  to  learn  the  language 
and  institutions  of  a  new  land,  or  joins  his  neighbors  in 
promoting  the  health  of  his  community,  in  conserving  re- 
sources, in  securing  means  of  healthful  recreation  for  chil- 
dren and  youth,  in  improving  the  highways  —  when,  in 
short,  he  performs  any  one  of  a  hundred  offices  that  are 
required  of  him  as  an  efficient  unit  in  an  organized  society. 

Those  who  oppose  military  training  in  the 
schools  will  be  less  critical  of  its  requirements 
when  they  are  open  to  the  broader  interpretation 
suggested  in  the  amendment  of  191 7.  Those  to 
whom    the   thought  of  training  the   young  in   the 


ORGANIZED  BOY  POWER  175 

carrying  of  arms  is  repugnant  may  here  see  the 
educative  value  of  universal  service.  Early  in 
the  war  Germany  discovered  that  the  relation  of 
industrial  to  military  service  is  2.7  per  cent ;  that 
is,  to  keep  one  man  in  the  field,  nearly  three  men 
must  work  in  those  occupations,  industrial  and 
agricultural,  which  support  the  nation  at  war.^  It 
is  the  work  of  the  New  York  Military  Training 
Commission  to  select  as  a  partial  military  equiva- 
lent such  vocational  training  or  vocational  experi- 
ence as  will,  in  the  present  or  in  the  future, 
serve  the  nation. 

What  shall  the  nature  of  this  work  be  ?  The 
decision  is  to  be  left  to  the  state  Military  Training 
Commission.  It  is  easy  to  weed  out  those  occu- 
pations which  have  no  national  productive  or  de- 
fensive value,  but  there  will  be  difficulty  in  selecting 
those  vocations  which  may  or  may  not  be  military 
equivalents,  which  under  war  conditions  may  belong 
to  the  work  of  an  industrial  or  agricultural  army, 
when  in  peace  they  seem  entirely  separate  from 
national  service.  Such  an  occupation  is  that  of  a 
junior  telegraph  operator,  which  is  not  of  a  pro- 
ductive nature,  and  yet  a  very  necessary  factor  in 
war  equipment.    The  case  of  a  printer's  apprentice 

1  Authorities  differ  widely;  some  even  state  that  the  ratio  is  now  as 
high  as  one  to  eight. 


176  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

is  less  equivocal.  Only  in  rare  cases  could  his 
work  be  accepted  as  a  partial  substitute  for  the 
required  service. 

The  problem  is  not  to  separate  the  useful  from 
the  useless  occupations,  but  to  discriminate  between 
those  which  may  be  called  upon  to  serve  the  state 
and  those  which  have  value  only  to  the  individual. 
All  the  productive  and  useful  occupations  are  not 
socialized ;  and  in  selecting  those  which  are  partial 
equivalents  for  the  required  military  drill,  we  have 
to  make  a  distinction  which  has  not  been  hitherto 
considered  in  economic  classification  of  occupations. 

To  Ruskin's  generation  his  suggestion  that 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  undergraduates  should 
serve  short  periods  as  builders  of  roads  for  the 
empire  seemed  little  short  of  fantastic.  And  yet 
the  turn  of  time  may  even  bring  about  the  con- 
firmation of  this  anomaly. 

There  is  a  parallel  between  the  economic  sub- 
stitution for  military  drill  and  what  William  James 
in  an  astonishingly  pertinent  essay  written  in  19 10 
calls  the  "  Moral  Equivalent  of  War." 

If  there  were,  instead  of  military  conscription,  a  con- 
scription of  the  whole  youthful  population  to  form  for  a 
certain  number  of  years  a  part  of  the  army  enlisted  against 
Nature,  .  .  .  the  military  ideals  of  hardihood  and  discipline 
would  be  wrought  into  the  growing  fiber  of  the  people.  .  .  . 


A  farm  camp  is  not  merely  a  recreational  camp,  although  it  may  re-create 

the  city  youth  in  terms  of  country  life.     A  group  of   Long  Island  Food 

Reserve  Battalion  boys  with  the  working  impulse  strong 


Even    hot-in-    r((iuircs    s[)ccial   training  and   was   one   activil)'   in   the    pre- 

vocational  course   in  agriculture   given  at  the  concentration   and  training 

camp  for  Junior  Volunteers  of  Maine 


Instruction  in  mechanics,  electricity,  friction,  heat,  horsepower,  etc.  nowadays 

centers  about  an  automobile.    This  work  at  Wentworth  Institute  (Boston, 

Massachusetts)  has  a  military-equivalent  value 


To  learn  a  trade  in  an  essential  industry  is  to  enlist  in  national  preparedness. 

A  corner  of  a  Buffalo  (New  York)   vocational  school,  teaching  plumbing 

and  steam  fitting 


ORGANIZED  BOY  POWER  177 

To  coal  and  iron  mines,  to  freight  trains,  to  fishing  fleets  in 
December,  to  dishwashing,  clothes-washing  and  window- 
washing,  to  road-building  and  tunnel-making,  to  foundries 
and  stokeholes,  and  to  the  frames  of  skyscrapers,  would  our 
gilded  youths  be  drafted  off,  according  to  their  choice,  to 
get  the  childishness  knocked  out  of  them,  and  to  come 
back  into  society  with  healthier  sympathies  and  soberer 
ideas.  .  .  .  Such  a  conscription,  with  the  state  of  public 
opinion  that  would  have  required  it,  and  the  many  moral 
fruits  it  would  bear,  would  preserve  in  the  midst  of  a  pacific 
civilization  the  manly  virtues  which  the  military  party  is  so 
afraid  of  seeing  disappear  in  peace. 

Liberty  Hyde  Bailey,  author  and  farmer,  formerly 
director  of  the  New  York  State  College  of  Agri- 
culture, in  a  chapter  of  a  recent  book  on  "  Univer- 
sal Service  "  expresses  in  concrete  terms  a  similar 
thought  from  the  angle  of  the  open  country. 

Not  of  all  persons  will  be  required  the  same  duty.  What 
one  is,  that  shall  one  give.  Society  will  learn  of  every  man 
and  woman  what  these  gifts  may  be.  Some  day  it  will  be 
expected  that  every  able  person  will  report  himself,  at  deter- 
mined occasions,  for  definite  service,  without  pay,  in  one 
or  more  of  the  following  privileges,  and  other  privileges, 
under  orderly  management  and  recognized  public  authority  : 

I .  To  clean  up  the  earth  and  to  keep  it  sweet,  —  streets, 
roads,  paths,  byways,  vacant  lots,  stream  banks,  woods,  fields, 
and  all  open,  or  public,  properties  and  public  works.  The 
clean-up  days  now  becoming  popular  are  the  beginnings.  Of 
course  this  does  not  mean  that  the  work  of  street-cleaning 


178  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

departments  and  the  like  is  to  be  taken  over  or  interfered 
with ;  but  there  are  times  for  special  house  cleaning.  If 
every  person  felt  it  devolving  on  him  to  help  in  keeping 
the  earth  decent,  he  would  be  likely  to  exercise  a  proper 
restraint  in  befouling  it;  and  as  charity  begins  at  home,  so 
should  his  restraint  begin  on  his  own  premises,  even  extend- 
ing to  the  parts  out  of  sight  of  the  public. 

2.  To  take  part  in  the  construction  of  halls  and  premises 
for  community  activities. 

3.  To  aid  in  the  making  of  beautiful  and  public  places 
accessible  and  to  protect  them.  Every  community  with  a 
rural  environment,  and  practically  every  small  city,  has 
a  near-by  area  that  could  be  reserved  and  opened  by  coop- 
erative action  of  the  people,  —  days  set  aside  when  paths 
should  be  made,  bridges  built,  retreats  discovered,  trees  and 
streams  put  in  shape,  insects  destroyed.  Such  reservations 
are  not  really  public  until  the  people  volunteer  to  help  in 
them. 

The  farther  places,  the  real  backgrounds  of  the  race,  will 
some  day  be  opened  as  well  as  reserved,  and  made  of  much 
use  to  very  many  people  besides  casual  visitors  and  sight- 
seers. We  shall  learn  how  to  project  whole  counties  and 
cities,  and  even  larger  units,  into  the  making  and  keeping 
of  them  in  a  way  that  is  not  yet  visioned.  This  can  be 
accomplished  as  easily  as  armies  can  be  sent  into  the  field, 
but  it  will  require  a  type  of  organization  at  which  we  have 
not  yet  arrived.  It  will  be  worth  while  to  develop  public- 
service  armies. 

4.  To  demand  the  freedom  of  the  earth  for  its  inhab- 
itants, under  proper  recognition  of  vested  rights.  The 
conception  of  the  freedom  of  the  sea  has  had  an  interesting 


ORGANIZED  BOY  POWER  179 

evolution,  —  the  escape  from  the  old  sea  fear,  the  long 
years  of  piracy,  the  buccaneers,  letters  of  marque  and  re- 
prisal, treaty  ports,  smuggling,  and  all  the  rest ;  finally  has 
come  the  demand  of  equal  opportunities  for  all  and  the 
open  door.  We  must  have  the  open  door  to  fields  and 
shores,  to  commanding  hills  that  should  not  be  exclusive 
property ;  find  trails  and  walks  and  avenues  to  places  the 
people  ought  to  know.  All  this  requires  exploration,  tramps 
far  and  near,  maps,  propaganda.  All  scenic  parts  will  be 
marked.    The  public  shall  know  all  good  places. 

5 .  To  protect  the  products  of  the  earth  ;  and  to  protect 
the  earth  itself.  The  products  to  which  I  now  refer  are 
those  not  the  property  of  individuals,  —  the  birds,  the  beasts, 
the  fish,  the  vegetation.  The  bird  sanctuaries  now  so  well 
accepted  are  good  beginnings,  as  also  the  wild-flower  preser- 
vation societies,  the  nature-study  groups,  and  many  others; 
but  the  individual  is  not  yet  sufficiently  impressed  with  this 
feeling  in  his  own  action. 

To  protect  the  earth  is  to  save  its  fertility.  This  is  the 
fundamental  conservation.  Not  all  persons  can  participate 
here,  but  every  citizen  can  be  mindful  of  the  necessity  of 
it  and  aid  in  creating  public  sentiment.  I  wait  for  the  com- 
ing together  of  new  organizations  or  societies  that  shall 
have  for  their  purpose  the  conservation  of  fertility.  These 
will  be  much  more  than  agricultural  and  rural  organizations, 
and  their  work  need  not  be  technical  or  occupational.  They 
may  include  all  persons,  and  the  discussions  and  interests 
may  run  the  range  of  man's  relation  to  land. 

To  leave  his  piece  of  earth  more  productive  than  when 
he  took  it  is  the  obligation  of  the  good  farmer,  for  there 
are  constantly  more  persons  to  be  supported.    In  the  large 


i8o  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

sense  every  one  of  us  is  a  farmer,  for  the  keeping  of  the 
earth  is  given  to  the  human  race.  We  begin  to  understand 
vaguely  what  relation  the  good  keeping  of  the  land  bears  to 
national  questions. 

6.  To  keep  the  public  health,  —  to  protect  it  by  keeping 
one's  body  well,  by  taking  care  to  commit  no  nuisance,  to 
contaminate  no  source  of  public  infection,  and  to  lend  one's 
self  to  participate  in  the  correcting  of  abuses. 

To  be  physically  fit  and  uncomplaining  is  a  public  duty. 
Maybe  we  shall  find  ways  to  demand  physical  training  of 
the  people  as  effective  as  that  afforded  by  military  training 
but  without  its  sinister  intentions. 

Society  will  take  over  unto  itself  the  oversight  not  only 
of  physical  training  and  of  providing  that  children  shall  be 
well  born  but  also  more  and  more  the  oversight  of  the  treat- 
ment of  disease,  as  a  public  necessity.  We  shall  train  the 
sound  to  care  for  the  unsound. 

7.  To  come  with  personal  succor  as  well  as  with  money  and 
goods  in  time  of  flood  and  disaster,  to  visit  the  sick  and  the 
afflicted,  to  relieve  the  poor  and  unfortunate.  We  shall  learn 
how  to  organize  the  vast  resources  in  men  and  women  who 
are  willing  but  do  not  know  how,  who  are  undiscovered  and 
untrained,  yet  who  could  be  shaped  into  a  great  army  of 
assistance. 

8.  To  respond  promptly  to  the  call  of  societies  or  groups 
that  act  in  the  public  interest ;  to  participate  in  the  many 
neighborhood  cooperations. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  manner  in  which  a 
military  equivalent  may  be  determined,  an  illus- 
tration   has    been    taken    from    some    agricultural 


ORGANIZED  BOY  POWER 


i«i 


activities.  Before  considering  the  military  equiva- 
lent in  farm  work  it  is  necessary  to  give  a  brief 
description  of  the  basis  upon  which  the  Military 
Training  Commission  will  probably  work  in  this 
matter.  The  basis,  in  brief,  is  the  "  man  work 
unit  "  idea  as  developed  by  Dr.  George  F.  Warren, 
Professor  of  Farm  Management,  New  York  State 
College  of  Agriculture. 

A  man  work  unit  is  the  average  amount  of  work 
accomplished  by  a  man  in  ten  hours.  A  horse 
work  unit  is  the  average  amount  of  work  accom- 
plished by  a  horse  in  ten  hours.  For  New  York 
conditions,  an  acre  of  the  following  crops  repre- 
sents the  man  and  horse  units  indicated  below. 
In  a  majority  of  cases  the  numbers  which  follow 
are  based  upon  cost  accounts.  In  some  instances, 
where  data  were  limited,  the  results  are  more  or 
less  an  estimate. 


Man  Units 

Horse  Units 

Crops 

6 

6 

Corn  for  grain  husked  from  shock  (New 
York  method) 

3 

5 

Corn  for  grain  husked  from  standing  stalks 
(Western  method) 

S 

6 

Corn  for  silage 

3 

5 

Fodder  corn 

6 

6 

Sweet  corn 

lO 

lO 

Potatoes 

4 

5 

Field  beans 

l82 


OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 


Man  Units 

Horse  Units 

Crops 

lO 

10 

Cabbage 

20 

7 

Tobacco 

5° 

8 

Hops 

15 

12 

Roots  (field  beets,  mangels,  etc.) 

2 

3 

Buckwheat,  oats,  barley,  wheat,  spelt,  rye, 
field  peas,  and  mixtures  of  these 

1 

I 

Hay  for  cutting,  alfalfa,  clover,  timothy 

2 

3 

Oat  hay,  millet,  and  other  grains  cured  for  hay 

15 

5 

Apples,  bearing,  when  cared  for  in  a  commer- 
cial way 

3 

I 

Apples,  bearing,  when  little  or  no  care  is  given 

15 

5 

Other  tree  fruits,  bearing 

2 

I 

Fruit  not  of  bearing  age 

20 

5 

Berries 

3 

5 

Peas  for  canning  factory 

I 

I 

Seeds  (alfalfa,  clover,  timothy) 

3 

5 

Sorghum 

12 

6 

Cotton 

10  to  35 

2  to  10 

Truck  crops 

For  live  stock  listed  below,  the  man  units  and 
horse   units   are   as   indicated. 


Man  Units 

Horse  Units 

Live  Stock  (Basis  of  One) 

IS 

2 

Cows,  ordinary  dairy  (majority  grades) 

20 

2 

Cows,  pure-bred  dairy  (majority  pure-bred) 

15 

15 

To  be  added  per  cow  when  milk  is  retailed 

2 

O.I 

Heifers,  calves,  bulls,  steers,  and  colts  when 
running  loose 

2 

O.I 

Steers  or  other  cattle,  fattened  or  only  win- 
tered 

0-5 

0.05 

Breeding  ewes  and  bucks  (covers  work  on 
lambs) 

ORGANIZED  BOY  POWER 


183 


Man  Units 

Horse  Units 

Live  Stock  (Basis  of  One) 

0.2 

0.02 

Other  sheep  or  lambs,  fattened  or  only  win- 
tered 

3 

0.05 

Brood  sows  (covers  work  on  pigs  till  weaned) 

0.5 

O.I 

Boars 

0.5 

0.1 

Other  hogs  raised  during  the  year 

0.15 

0.02 

Hens  and  other  poultry 

0.15 

0.02 

Pullets,  etc.,  raised  during  the  year  (covers 
work  on  cockerels) 

I.O 

0.05 

Bees,  per  hive 

6 

0.0 

Day-old  chicks  per  1000 

In  order  to  interpret  the  man-work-unit  idea  in 
terms  of  the  miUtary  requirements  of  New  York 
State  that  1 6-year-,  17-year-,  and  1 8-year-old  boys  are 
to  participate  in  such  mihtary  training  or  as  a  par- 
tial equivalent  may  offer  farm  experience  or  farm 
training,  it  is  necessary  to  translate  the  number 
of  hours  required  for  such  military  instruction  into 
crop  values  or,  to  use  the  term  already  understood, 
man  work  units. 

Since  there  are  288  days  or  41.1  weeks  in  the 
required  military-training  period  (September  first  to 
the  fifteenth  day  of  June  next  ensuing),  a  boy  must 
drill  123.3  hours.  This  represents  on  the  average 
12.33  rnan  work  units. 

For  example,  if  a  boy  grows  1.2  acres  of  potatoes 
or  takes  entire  charge  of  .6  acres  of  berries,  includ- 
ing cultivation,  picking,  marketing,  etc.,  for  a  period 


1 84 


OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 


of  one  year,  he  has  spent  in  productive  agricultural 
work  the  number  of  hours  required  for  military  drill. 


Man  Units 

Military  Equivalent 

6 

2.05  acres  corn  for  grain  husked  from  shock  (New  York 

method) 

5 

2.46  acres  corn  for  silage 

6 

2.05  acres  sweet  corn 

lO 

1.233  acres  potatoes 

4 

3.08  acres  field  beans 

lO 

1.233  acres  cabbage 

20 

.616  acres  tobacco 

5° 

.246  acres  hops 

15 

.822  acres  roots  (field  beets,  mangels,  etc.) 

2 

6.16  acres  buckwheat,  oats,  barley,  wheat,  spelt,  rye  (field 

peas  and  mixtures  of  these) 

'    I 

12.33  acres  hay  per  cutting  (alfalfa,  clover,  timothy) 

2 

6. 1 6  acres  oat  hay,  millet,  and  other  grains  cured  for  hay 

15 

.822  acres  apples,  bearing,  when  cared  for  in  commercial 

way 

3 

4.1 1  acres  apples,  bearing,  when  little  or  no  care  is  given 

15 

.822  acres  other  tree  fruits,  bearing 

2 

6. 1 6  acres  fruit  not  of  bearing  age 

20 

.616  acres  berries 

3 

4. 1 1  acres  peas  for  canning  factory 

I 

12.33  acres  seed  (alfalfa,  clover,  timothy) 

3 

4.1 1  acres  sorghum 

lo  to  35 

1.233  acres  truck  crops 

In  the  case  of  live  stock  a  boy  can  do  all  the  man 
work  necessary  in  caring  for  6  heifers  or  82  hens  or 
approximately  one  ordinary  cow  in  the  time  which 
another  boy  may  be  giving  to  military  training. 


ORGANIZED  BOY  POWER 


185 


The  exact  military  equivalents  are  shown  in  the 
second  column. 


Man  Units 

Military  Equivalent 

15 

.82  cows,  ordinary  dairy  (majority  grades) 

20 

.616  cows,  pure-bred  dairy  (majority  pure-bred) 

2 

6.16  heifer,  calves,  bulls,  steers,  and  colts 

1 

6. 1 6  steers  or  other  cattle,  fattened  or  only  wintered 

0.5 

24.66  breeding  ewes  and  bucks  (covers  work  on  lambs) 

0.2 

61 .6  other  sheep  or  lambs,  fattened  or  only  wintered 

3 

4. 1 1  brood  sows  (covers  work  on  pigs  till  weaned) 

0-5 

24.66  other  hogs  raised  during  year 

0-5 

24.66  boars 

0.15 

82  hens  and  other  poultry 

0.15 

82  pullets,  etc.,  raised  during  the  year  (covers  work  on 

cockerels) 

0-3 

41. 1  hives  of  bees 

6 

2.05  thousand  day-old  chicks 

Military  equivalents  as  related  to  farm  training 
or  farm  experience  appear  to  be  much  easier  to 
develop  than  those  concerning  mechanical  training 
and  experience,  especially  where  the  work  of  16- 
year-old  to  19-year-old  boys  is  concerned. 

At  the  present  writing  there  seems  to  be  on 
the  part  of  the  public  no  very  clear  understanding 
of  the  government's  policy  relative  to  exemption 
for  persons  who  are  performing  industrial  and 
farm  service.  If  it  is  difficult  to  determine  an  ex- 
emption policy  for  drafted  men,  it  is  very  evident 


i86  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

that  when  boys  of  i6,  17,  and  18  years  of  age  have 
become  industrial  drifters  and  have  not  decided 
upon  a  vocational  career,  the  determination  of  a 
military-equivalent  policy  for  them  is  a  problem 
much  harder  of  solution. 

Again,  a  study  of  boys'  occupations  reveals  the  fact 
that  only  a  very  small  proportion  of  those  "above 
the  age  of  16  years  and  not  over  the  age  of  19 
years"  who  are  at  work  in  our  cities  are  engaged 
in  occupations  that  will  specifically  prepare  them 
for  service  that  has  productive  or  defensive  value. 
Under  the  auspices  of  the  Committee  on  Voca- 
tional Help  to  Minors  the  Bureau  of  Attendance 
of  New  York  City  made  an  extended  survey,  dur- 
ing the  summer  of  191 5,  of  5000  children  who 
had  left  school  between  the  ages  of  14  and  16 
and  entered  industry.  Because  of  the  vast  amount 
of  labor  involved  in  tabulating  the  data  that  were 
collected,  a  random  sampling  was  made  of  150 
boys  and  the  same  number  of  girls  from  each  of 
5  attendance  districts.  The  5  districts  were  selected 
to  represent  as  nearly  as  possible  the  general  char- 
acter of  the  city.  Each  of  these  1500  cases,  750 
boys  and  750  girls,  was  given  a  key  number  so 
that  when  the  information  was  tabulated  it  would 
be  possible  to  identify  each  case  and  verify  the 
information.     Of   the    750   boys    546   were   within 


ORGANIZED  BOY  POWER  187 

the  ages  designated  by  this  statute,  188  were 
under  16  years  of  age  and  16  of  the  boys  were 
19  years  old. 

Half  of  the  boys  were  either  errand-messengers, 
clerks,  or  ofhce  boys.  There  were  213  in  the 
errand-messenger  service,  107  clerks,  and  55  office 
boys.  Another  100  were  either  stock  boys,  wagon 
boys,  or  packers  and  wrappers.  The  largest  trade 
group  was  made  up  of  14  boys  who  were  classed 
as  machinists'  apprentices,  and  the  second  largest 
trade  group,   that  of  electricians,  had   but  5  boys. 

The  departments  in  which  these  750  boys  were 
working  indicate  the  nature  of  the  employment. 
There  were  265  in  offices,  134  in  the  shop  depart- 
ments of  factories,  165  in  shipping  and  delivery 
departments,  92  in  salesrooms,  35  in  stock  rooms, 
31  in  other  departments,  and  28  cases  where  the 
investigator  had  failed  to  secure  this  information. 

A  careful  study  of  the  work  done  by  each  of 
the  750  boys  resulted  in  the  selection  of  32  who 
seemed  to  be  doing  work  that  might  give  them  the 
specific  training  indicated  as  essential.  The  result 
of  this  study  can  be  summarized  under  the  headings 
of  the  trades  the  boys  were  learning. 

Blacksmith.  The  one  boy  apprenticed  to  this  trade  had 
been  working  in  the  shop  for  seventeen  months,  was 
earning  ^13  a  week,  and  was  perfectly  satisfied  with  his 


l88  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

work.  So  he  was  likely  to  continue  until  he  learned 
the   trade. 

Brass  worker.  Of  the  two  boys  of  this  group,  one  had 
served  twelve  months  and  the  other  twenty-four  months 
at  the  trade.  They  earned  respectively  ^5  and  $6.50  a 
week  and  both  intended  to  remain  at  the  trade  until  it 
was  learned. 

Carpenter.  There  were  two  boys  serving  as  carpenter's 
helpers.  With  one  it  was  simply  a  temporary  position. 
The  other  had  been  working  at  the  trade  for  a  year,  and 
although  he  was  receiving  but  ^4  a  week,  he  intended  to 
remain  at  the  trade. 

Electrician.  Three  of  the  five  boys  working  at  this 
trade  had  been  employed  for  over  eighteen  months  as 
electricians'  helpers.  The  other  two  had  had  four  months 
and  two  months  respectively  of  such  experience.  The 
five  all  expressed  a  determination  to  remain  long  enough 
to  learn  the  trade. 

Ship  fitter.  The  one  boy  in  this  group,  although  out  of 
school  over  a  year,  had  been  working  at  the  navy  yard 
but  two  months. 

Locks7nith.  With  only  ten  days'  experience  this  boy 
was  ready  to  quit. 

Machinist.  The  average  time  spent  by  the  14  boys 
classified  as  machinists  was  less  than  three  and  one-half 
months,  and  not  one  of  the  group  had  worked  as  long  as 
a  year.  Three  were  running  drill  presses,  i  was  clean- 
ing the  wheels  and  pipes  of  a  feather-bone  machine,  2 
were  not  employed.  Most  of  these  were  dissatisfied  and 
looking  for  other   work.    A  boy  who  had   been    working 


ORGANIZED  BOY  POWER  189 

eleven  months  on  a  screwing  machine,  i  who  had  worked 
nine  months  repairing  autos,  and  i  who  had  worked  eight 
months  as  a  machinist's  helper  —  3  out  of  the  14  —  had 
worked  long  enough  at  the  trade  to  know  that  they  liked 
it,  and  expressed  the  intention  of  learning  the  trade. 

Plumber.  Three  of  the  four  boys  classified  as  plumbers' 
helpers  had  worked  over  a  year  and  a  half  at  the  trade, 
liked  the  work,  and  expected  to  follow  it.  The  fourth  boy 
was  using  it  as  a  temporary  job. 

Solderer.  The  one  boy  in  this  line  was  dissatisfied  with 
the  job  and  with  his  pay. 

Sheet-metal  tvorker.  The  one  boy  serving  as  a  tin-roofer's 
helper  had  worked  for  the  firm  for  a  year  and  was  per- 
fectly satisfied  with  all  conditions. 

There  seem  to  be  14  of  the  750  boys  who  had 
been  working  long  enough  at  a  trade  and  were 
sufficiently  pleased  with  the  prospects  for  the 
future  to  make  one  safe  in  saying  that  they 
would  probably  complete  their  apprenticeship  — 
although  this  conclusion  may  not  be  justified. 
These   14  were  distributed  as  follows: 

Blacksmith i 

Brass  worker 2 

Carpenter i 

Electrician 3 

Machinist 3 

Plumber 3 

Sheet-metal  worker i 

Total 14 


I90  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

This  study  of  Mr.  Chatiield's  shows  that  not 
only  were  very  few  of  the  boys  between  the  ages 
of  1 6  and  19  receiving  vocational  experience  that 
would  train  them  to  be  useful  to  the  state  in  the 
maintenance  of  defense  or  in  the  other  interests 
of  the  state  as  outlined  in  the  bill,  but  also  boys 
of  these  ages  are  likely  to  change  their  work  rather 
frequently.  There  were  184  of  these  750  boys 
who  had  been  out  of  school  between  three  and 
four  years  when  this  study  was  made.  Of  these 
184  boys  41  were  still  working  at  the  job  they 
first  had  when  they  left  school,  47  were  on  the 
second  job,  41  were  on  the  third  job,  and  13  had 
made  eight  or  more  changes. 

I  know  of  no  study  which  more  clearly  points  out 
the  "  blind  alleyness  "  of  the  employment  of  chil- 
dren. However,  some  of  us,  including  Dr.  David 
Snedden  of  Columbia  University,  feel  that  a  better 
term  than  "  blind-alley  occupations "  would  be 
"  occupations  involving  juvenile  employment."  To 
us  the  evil  of  errand-messenger,  clerk,  or  office-boy 
service  is  not  that  boys  wander  into  or  are  thrust 
into  a  line  of  work  which  may  be  a  blind  alley,  but 
rather  that  710  provision  is  made  in  tJie  public-school 
system  for  giving  the  boys  a  short  preparatory 
training  helpful  to  them,  in  this  tem^porary  service^ 
and  that  no  training  which  would  help  them,  to  get 


ORGANIZED  BOY  POWER  191 

out  of  such  work  is  given  them  in  the  office^  store, 
or  factory.  If  society  would  frankly  recognize  that 
there  are  juvenile  employments  and  that  boys  might 
well  work  in  them  while  they  are  juveniles  and  yet 
be  trained  through  such  work,  and  apart  from  such 
work  in  continuation  schools,  to  discover  themselves 
and  to  prepare  themselves  for  other  work,  we  might 
develop  a  constructive  educational  program. 

This  study  certainly  shows  the  waste  of  the  boy 
power  of  the  state  and  proves  conclusively  that 
there  is  need  for  the  state  to  grapple  consciously 
with  the  problem  of  conserving  its  youth ;  and 
when  one  reads  this  summary  of  an  accurate  and 
previously  unpublished  report,  one  is  led  to  believe 
that  William  James,  John  Dewey,  Liberty  Hyde 
Bailey,  and  John  Finley  are  right  in  their  conten- 
tion that  there  should  be  a  mobilization  of  the  boy 
force  of  the  state  looking  toward  conservation  of 
the  boy  power  that  it  may  lead  into  training  for 
skilled  work,  into  citizenship,  into  sturdy  health, 
and  into  right  living. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
RED  CROSS  AND  OTHER  COMMUNITY  WORK 

Thoughtful  people  are  becoming  disposed  to 
criticize  the  present  methods  employed  in  many 
of  our  sewing,  cooking,  and  millinery  classes.  It 
is  felt  that  the  girls  in  these  classes,  through  the 
work  which  they  do,  think  of  themselves  first,  last, 
and  all  the  time.  They  spend  time  on  embroidery 
to  cater  further  to  decorative  instincts  long  estab- 
lished by  custom  without  much  thought  as  to 
artistic  values.  They  spend  half  a  year  making 
graduation  dresses  which  they  may  wear  before 
admiring  parents.  They  copy  the  latest  fashion 
in  hats  without  thought  as  to  utility  or  beauty. 
They  knit  feathery  neck  pieces  and  neglect  stock- 
ing darning.  They  laboriously  sew  by  hand  articles 
which  had  better  be  made  on  a  machine. 

Our   girls    must    learn    to   think   of  others   than 

themselves.    Their  sewing  and  millinery  must  get 

away  from  the  individual-problem  idea.     Of  course 

girls  must  learn   to  sew  by  hand,  especially  when 

the  home  in  these  days  teaches  so  little  in  the  way 

of  hand    sewing.     But  after  they  have  learned   to 

192 


RED  CROSS  WORK  193 

sew  by  hand,  they  should  not  continue  to  use 
hand  sewing  on  work  that  should  be  done  on  a 
sewing  machine.  Of  course  it  is  wise  to  train 
girls  to  make  some  of  their  own  clothing,  but  to 
make  this  clothing  without  regard  to  study  of  tex- 
tiles or  adaptation  to  personal  needs  or  the  eternal 
fitness  of  things  is  not  in  accord  with  the  educa- 
tional purpose  of  our  schools,  which  is  to  train 
personal  character  as  well  as  to  develop  skill  in 
domestic  arts.  When  the  family  hosiery  needs 
darning,  and  the  small  children  of  the  family  need 
clothes,  and  the  schoolgirl  needs  a  middy  blouse 
or  a  school  uniform,  it  is  unwise  to  spend  so 
much  energy  on  continuing  a  type  of  domestic 
art  which  lacks  the  socialized  appeal  necessary 
to  conform  with  modern  social  needs  and  modern 
industrial  methods. 

The  teachers  of  household  arts  are  beginning 
to  see  the  need  for  reform.  Many  are  bringing 
into  the  school  life  such  problems  as  the  mending 
and  darning  of  the  family  clothes;  cooking  school 
luncheons;  managing  day  nurseries  for  babies  of 
working  mothers;  making  table  and  bed  linen  for 
hospitals;  making  jams  and  jellies  for  charitable 
societies.  Such  teachers  have  welcomed  the  oppor- 
tunity offered  by  the  present  war  to  forward  the 
new  idea  of  socializing  domestic-arts  work.    They 


194  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

have  been  impatient  of  the  dilettante  work  which 
they  formerly  did  when  their  girls  practically 
wasted  hours  of  school  time  in  making  things 
which  could  be  bought  for  less  than  the  cost  of 
materials,  to  say  nothing  about  the  cost  of  time 
of  the  girls  themselves,  who  are  in  school  but  a 
few  years  at  best  —  years  when  they  should  be  re- 
ceiving instruction  in  subjects  which  have  real 
training  values.  These  progressive  teachers  have 
desired  that  their  girls  develop  more  speed;  that 
they  receive  training  helpful  in  meeting  the  actual 
trade  conditions  in  dressmaking  and  millinery 
shops ;  that  they  learn  to  work  together  on  some 
common  problem  which  all  may  see  is  worth  while 
and  for  a  purpose  which  is  larger  than  themselves. 
Red  Cross  work  has  given  these  teachers  the  op- 
portunity which  they  sought.  They  believe  that 
the  Red  Cross  work  during  the  war  may  easily  be 
converted  into  community  work  after  the  war  is 
over.  Hospitals,  charity  organizations,  orphan  asy- 
lums, and  homes  are  always  with  us.  The  great 
appeal  now,  obviously,  is  Red  Cross  work.  The 
permanent  appeal  is  always  the  need  of  the  home 
and  the  community. 

An  activity  which  has  been  very  general  through- 
out the  country,  as  well  as  in  France  and  England, 
has  been  the  voluntary  contribution  of  the  work  of 


RED  CROSS  WORK  195 

women's  organizations  to  the  Red  Cross  Society. 
The  making  of  hospital  supplies  belongs  more 
peculiarly  to  women  than  do  many  forms  of  war 
work,  and  it  is  easily  incorporated  into  the  sewing 
courses  of  our  elementary  and  secondary  schools. 
A  feature  that  makes  it  especially  adaptable  to 
schools  is  the  standardization  by  the  present  busi- 
ness manager,  under  whose  direction  blue  prints, 
photographs,  and  written  and  pictured  specifications 
have  been  prepared. 

Those  of  us  who  are  interested  in  the  methods 
employed  in  vocational  schools  to  turn  out  standard 
products  appreciate  the  benefit  to  the  girl  of  learning 
to  work  from  well-planned  directions  and  of  turn- 
ing out  a  product  exactly  corresponding  to  specifi- 
cations. It  is  believed  that  this  manner  of  doing 
the  work  holds  an  educational  value  which  entitles 
it  to  a  place  in  the  sewing  course  of  every  school. 
Both  technique  and  speed  elements  are  necessary 
for  the  condition  of  need  which  the  Red  Cross  is 
meeting.  As  pupils  are  called  upon  to  respond  to 
this  demand  for  quantities  of  garments  and  hospital 
supplies,  as  well  as  for  accurately  made  articles, 
they  will  become  trained  in  speed  and  accuracy 
while  rendering  a  distinct  service  to  their  country. 

In  the  state  of  New  York  about  3000  girls  in 
sewing  classes  began  work  for  the  Red  Cross  on 


196  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

March  i,  191 7,  under  the  direction  of  Anna  Hedges 
Talbot,  state  speciaHst  in  girls'  vocational  work; 
the  work  being  done  voluntarily  by  both  schools 
and  pupils.  To  obtain  materials,  arrangements 
were  first  made  with  local  Red  Cross  chapters; 
but  in  many  places  the  lack  of  a  chapter  or  its 
lack  of  funds  prevented  the  cooperation  with  the 
schools,  and  material  was  supplied  by  liberal  con- 
tributions from  women's  clubs,  which  realized  the 
necessity  of  making  use  of  the  offer  of  the  girls' 
services,  thus  causing  more  work  to  be  turned 
into  Red  Cross  channels  than  would  have  been 
possible  without  this  financial  aid.  In  organizing 
the  work  the  various  localities  sent  an  authorized 
school  person,  generally  the  teacher  of  household 
arts,  to  confer  with  the  Red  Cross  people  as  to 
what  articles  were  needed  and  how  they  should 
be  made,  and  to  bring  back  to  the  school  written 
specifications,  paper  patterns,  and  models.  In  many 
places  the  teachers  took  a  course  of  instruction 
under  some  Red  Cross  nurse  specifically  qualified 
to  give  sewing  instruction. 

In  this  careful  way  the  schools  proceeded,  and 
within  six  weeks  returned  reports  to  the  State 
Education  Department  showing  that  every  kind  of 
article  which  was  needed,  from  the  simplest  surgical 
dressings  to  the  most  carefully  fiiiished  surgeon's 


RED  CROSS  WORK  197 

gown,  had  been  made  by  about  3000  girls  working 
on  an  average  of  one  or  two  hours  a  week  during 
their  regular  school  time.  That  none  of  this  work 
had  to  be  ripped  or  done  over  when  it  reached  the 
Red  Cross  headquarters  reflects  credit  on  both 
girls   and    instructors. 

One  comparatively  small  sewing  class  in  the 
vocational  school  at  Mount  Vernon,  New  York, 
filled  a  box  for  the  Belgian  Relief,  according  to 
Red  Cross  specifications,  as  follows: 

1 8  hot-water-bag  covers  9  pairs  slippers 

54  sheets  9  convalescent  gowns 

36  pillow  cases  36  pairs  socks 

27  wash  cloths  18  pairs  bed  socks 

27  pairs  of  pajamas  18  bath  towels 

36  hospital-bed  sheets  36  face  towels 

In  addition  this  class  shipped  in  a  few  months  over 
2000  separate  articles  to  Red  Cross  headquarters; 
as,  for  example, 

75  children's  dresses  14  chemises 

149  tampon  bags  403  body  bandages 
224  baby  bootees  42  eye  bandages 

219  ward  shoes  373  bathing  suits 

76  hospital  nightshirts  1 2  air  cushions 

62  crocheted  trench  caps  77  pneumonia  jackets 

597  slings  50  bath  towels 

19  petticoats 

All  the  schools  of  the  state  inquired  if  they 
might  go  on  with  this  work  when  the  schools 
opened  in  September.    Schools  which  were  not  able 


198  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

to  do  the  work  in  the  spring  were  ready  to  begin 
on  the  first  day  of  school  in  the  fall.  The  work, 
however,  has  hitherto  been  neglected  except  in 
the  curriculum  of  schools  which  have  vocational 
courses,  so  that  only  girls  electing  domestic  arts 
have  had  the  opportunity  of  doing  it  as  a  part  of 
their  school  program,  but  there  is  no  reason  why 
it  should  be  limited  to  these  girls.  Those  who  are 
taking  academic  courses  in  high  schools  —  and 
they  greatly  outnumber  the  vocational  students 
—  should  have  a  chance  to  render  service  through 
the  schools.  In  this  connection  it  is  well  to  say  that 
the  burden  of  doing  productive  work  in  war  service 
should  not  be  limited  entirely  to  students  in  voca- 
tional courses.  It  will  be  a  mistake  to  throw  the 
burden  of  useful  service  upon  a  special  group  and 
in  this  way  help  develop  the  notion  that  those 
who  take  classical  courses  have  nothing  to  do  but 
look  on,  while  those  in  vocational  courses  are  to 
do  the  work. 

Voluntary  after-school  clubs  were  organized  in 
a  great  many  schools,  but  no  voluntary  work  can 
be  systematized  or  directed  so  well  as  courses 
incorporated  in  the  curriculum,  and  it  is  suggested 
to  the  schools  of  the  country  that  special  Red  Cross 
courses  be  offered  and  that  all  girls  be  expected 
to  devote  a  few  hours  a  week  to  the  work. 


RED  CROSS  WORK  199 

•  ^ 

The  following  quotation  from  Edouard  Petit's 
book  "  De  1'  ecole  a  la  guerre  "  on  what  the  normal 
schools  of  France  are  doing  ought  to  be  enough 
to  inspire  our  American  girls. 

The  girls  of  the  normal  schools  of  France  are  working 
very  hard,  knitting,  sewing,  making  hospital  supplies,  in 
the  intervals  of  their  school  work ;  also  acting  as  laun- 
dresses, secretaries,  bookkeepers,  etc.  They  are  not  old 
enough  to  be  nurses.  In  addition  to  the  work  for  the 
armies,  they  give  a  part  of  their  time  to  work  for  other 
students.  They  are  providing  for  the  girl  students  of  the 
normal  schools  in  the  invaded  districts,  many  of  whom 
were  obliged  to  make  long  journeys  on  foot,  clad  in  sum- 
mer clothes,  with  no  chance  to  carry  even  a  change  of 
clothing  with  them.  The  school  at  Fontenay  appealed  to 
the  normal  schools  for  aid  for  its  students ;  other  appeals 
followed,  some  from  schools  in  the  districts  from  which 
the  invaders  were  driven  out.  Very  soon  in  all  the  normal 
schools  of  France  girls  were  cutting  and  sewing,  providing 
new  garments,  or  garments  from  their  own  supply,  to  be 
sent  to  the  towns  in  the  north  of  France.  Some  of  these 
supplies  are  held  in  reserve  for  the  towns  that  are  still  to 
be  liberated.  One  teacher  writes  :  "  Our  young  girls  are 
glad  to  come  to  the  aid  of  their  fellow  students  who  are  not 
known  to  them  but  who  are  coming  to  seem  nearer  as  I 
have  them  learn  about  the  schools,  read  the  letters  that  are 
received,  etc.  Anything  which  makes  real  and  tangible  the 
responsibility  of  this  friendly  help  ought  to  be  encouraged." 

As  the  need  arises,  our  secondary-school  girls  will  respond 
in  like  manner. 


200  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

The  preparation  needed  to  initiate  Red  Cross 
work  in  any  large  way  in  the  schools  of  a  state 
is  considerable.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  organi- 
zation and  consequent  detail  connected  with  it. 
The  domestic-arts  teachers  of  a  school  district  or 
county  ought  to  be  called  together  and  instructed 
in  the  minutiae  of  garment-making  and  surgical 
dressings.  With  the  blue  prints,  photographs,  and 
written  specifications  already  issued  by  the  Red 
Cross  headquarters  at  Washington  these  teachers 
could  then  work  out  a  full  set  of  directions  for 
each  article  which  would  be  specific  and  graphic. 
These  could  be  printed  by  the  state  printer  or, 
better,  by  the  boys  in  a  vocational  school.  In 
addition,  moving-picture  reels  of  processes  carried 
on  according  to  the  most  modern  methods  of 
workroom  procedure  could  be  shown  to  those  who 
have  not  been  in  contact  with  present-day  modes 
of   work. 

In  order  to  excite  interest  on  the  part  of  the 
community  in  rural  districts  where  this  work  has 
not  as  yet  penetrated  to  any  extent,  moving  pic- 
tures of  processes  of  making  surgical  dressings, 
pajamas,  surgeons'  gowns,  or  children's  dresses 
could  be  exhibited  as  illustrating  what  other  sec- 
tions of  the  state  are  already  doing.  These  moving 
pictures   could   be   taken  of   girls   at   work   in   an 


RED  CROSS  WORK  201 

up-to-date  New  York  City  factory,  and  the  reels 
could  be  either  purchased  outright  or  rented  from 
an  educational-film  company.  In  Washington  the 
Department  of  the  Interior  has  a  number  of  reels 
which  have  been  put  at  the  disposal  of  the  Red 
Cross,  and  will  make  more  if  the  occasion  demands. 
Slides  too  could  be  made  showing  special  opera- 
tions, special  garments,  and  special  methods  of 
arranging  work.  When  public  interest  has  been 
aroused  at  a  public  meeting  in  a  small  center,  the 
school  will  find  it  easy  to  take  up  the  work  and 
push  it  forward.  The  person  in  charge  of  the  work 
would  have  to  keep  in  constant  touch  with  the 
Red  Cross  headquarters  as  to  the  needs  for  gar- 
ments and  hospital  supplies,  as  well  as  to  the 
changes  that  from  time  to  time  have  to  be  made 
in  the  kind  and  quality  of  supplies.  A  chart  could 
be  made  of  the  capacity  as  to  equipment  and  num- 
ber of  pupils,  and  the  present  grade  of  their  work- 
ing ability,  for  each  place  where  a  school  is  located. 
Brief  reports  could  be  sent  to  a  state  director  from 
these  schools  as  to  what  they  could  make,  when 
they  could  make  it,  and  when  specified  articles 
could  be  finished.  Thus  there  would  be  a  line 
out  from  a  central  supervisor  to  each  school  in 
the  state  where  pupils  are  old  enough  to  do  any 
work  of  this  public-service  nature.    Along  this  line 


202  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

would  travel  the  information  as  to  what  was  being 
done  and  what  would  be  the  next  thing  to  be  done. 

Knitting  by  hand  is  one  of  the  occupations 
which  many  girls  and  women  are  taking  up. 
One  drawback  to  hand-knitting  is  that  it  takes 
a  good  deal  of  time,  and  in  the  case  of  socks, 
at  least,  the  results  of  amateur  work  may  be 
uncomfortable  to  the  wearer.  It  is  suggested  that 
schools  put  in  knitting  machines.  One  school  at 
Yonkers,  New  York,  has  such  a  machine.  It  en- 
ables its  operator  to  finish  a  sock  every  twenty  min- 
utes, or  12  pairs  in  an  eight-hour  day.  It  is  possible 
to  knit  wristlets  and  sleeveless  sweaters  on  these 
machines.  The  Vacation  War  Relief  Committee 
of  New  York  City  has  been  responsible  for  the 
sale  of  980  of  these  machines,  on  which  over  85,000 
pairs  of  socks  have  been  made  during  the  past  year. 

A  letter  written  to  me  by  Mettie  B.  Hills,  Director 
of  Girls'  Work  in  Troy,  New  York,  relative  to  her 
Red  Cross  work  is  so  full  of  human  interest  and 
gives  in  such  detail  the  excellent  methods  which 
she  employed  that  I  quote  it  in  full.  It  will  serve  as 
suggestive  material  for  other  equally  enthusiastic 
and  competent  teachers. 

My  office  has  been  turned  into  a  cutting  room.  Girls 
are  now  at  a  large  table  cutting  hospital  bed  shirts  with 
just  as  little  waste  as  possible.    Smaller  girls  are  snipping 


RED  CROSS  WORK  203 

the  few  waste  pieces,  and  one  little  girl  at  the  end  of  the 
table  is  filling  a  fracture  pillow  with  the  snips.  In  my 
machine-sewing  room  the  girls  are  making  hospital  bed 
shirts.  Each  girl  has  a  different  operation.  The  shirts 
move  through  the  cutting  room  to  this  room  and  from 
one  machine  to  the  next  just  as  they  do  in  a  factory.  They 
finally  reach  the  inspection  table,  where  they  are  inspected 
as  they  are  folded,  and  an  inspection  card  is  placed  in  the 
pocket.  They  are  then  piled  up  for  that  final  inspection 
which  I  give  every  article  before  it  goes  to  our  stock  room. 
Here  we  hold  all  articles  until  we  have  enough  to  make 
the  moving  worth  while,  and  then  they  are  taken  to 
Red  Cross  headquarters  in  the  city  truck.  The  chairmen 
of  each  Red  Cross  division  of  our  local  chapter  are  notified 
beforehand  that  things  are  coming  and  they  are  at  head- 
quarters to  receive  our  work  and  sign  for  it.  I  tell  you, 
it  is  a  big  day  for  all  when  the  school  work  is  turned  in. 
I  hear  about  it  for  weeks  afterward. 

The  girls  do  not  stay  at  one  operation.  As  soon  as  they 
are  ready,  they  are  promoted  to  the  next.  [And  in  this  con- 
nection may  I  call  the  reader's  attention  to  the  chapter  which 
brought  out  the  new  spirit  of  teaching  the  household  arts  ?] 

The  little  jacket  which  is  hanging  in  my  clothespress  is 
only  the  beginning  of  a  big  piece  of  work  which  I  expect 
to  push  during  the  winter,  a  piece  of  work  which  I  believe 
will  do  more  to  standardize  the  girls'  work  than  anything 
we  have  yet  done. 

Another  room  is  given  over  to  knitting,  and  the  girls 
pass  from  one  type  of  work  to  another.  We  have  a  teacher 
from  the  Red  Cross  rooms  who  is  showing  the  older  girls 
how  to  make  oakum  pads.    The  work  is  really  fascinating, 


204  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

and  fortunately  we  no  longer  have  to  think  of  the  money 
for  the  materials,  as  the  work  done  in  the  schools  has  been 
of  so  much  higher  standard  that  the  local  chapter  has  voted 
me  ^500  in  order  that  there  might  be  no  danger  of  our 
stopping  the  work.  I  am  inclosing  a  list  of  what  our  schools 
have  done  in  the  past  three  months. 

I.    For  the  Red  Cross  Society 

1.  Hospital  Supplies 

Hospital  boots 48 

Hospital  shoulder  wraps 36 

Hospital  shirts 156 

Pajama  suits 48 

Surgeons'  operating  gowns 6 

Surgeons'  operating  caps 12 

Surgeons'  operating  helmets 48 

Slings 492 

I -inch  bandages 12 

2-inch  bandages 13  rolls 

2.  Surgical  dressings 22 

Oakum  pads 20 

Fracture  pillows 20 

n.    For  the  Soldiers'  Welfare  League 

1.  "Housewives"  for  Second  New  York  Regiment       48 

2.  "  George  Washington  kits  "  for  Second  New  York 

Regiment 

3.  Neckerchiefs  for  Second  New  York  Regiment    .     120 

4.  Pajama  suits 32 


in.    For  the  National  Navy  Comforts  League 

1 .  Knitted  mufflers  for  the  army  and  navy     .     . 

2.  Knitted  sleeveless  jackets  for  the  army  and  navy 

3.  Knitted  wristlets  for  the  army  and  navy     .     . 

4.  Knitted  caps  for  the  army,  navy,  and  aviators 

5.  Knitted  hospital  socks 


313 
25 
40  pairs 

2 

7  pairs 


RED  CROSS  WORK  205 

IV.    For  the  Surgical  Dressings  Committee  (French) 

1.  Slings 

2.  Fracture  pillows 

3.  Eye  binders 

V.    For  Belgian  Relief  Committee 

I .  Kits  for  small  children  (full  set  of  clothes) 

VI.    For  National  League  for  Woman's  Service  (adults) 

1 .  Two  commissariat  classes 

2.  Motor  classes  with  30  enrolled 

Of  course  the  Red  Cross  work  need  not  be 
limited  to  girls  and  women.  Boys  under  14  are 
able  to  pick  over  oakum  and  to  do  other  work  that 
girls  of  the  same  age  can  do.  The  older  boys 
can  adjust  and  tend  the  knitting  machines  and 
pack  and  deliver  the  finished  product. 

Men  and  women  in  many  of  the  state  institu- 
tions will  be  glad  to  contribute  a  share  in  service. 
Thomas  Mott  Osborne,  while  warden  at  Sing  Sing, 
organized  through  the  Mutual  Welfare  League  a 
large  class  of  men  who  enthusiastically  gave  up 
their  evening  periods  of  recreation  in  order  that 
they  might  knit  for  soldiers  in  foreign  fields. 

A  number  of  young  boys,  none  over  14,  from 
Troy  and  Albany  orphan  asylums  were  taken  in 
auto  trucks  30  miles  into  the  country  to  a  currant- 
producing  section,  where  they  picked  5000  quarts 
of  currants  which  had  been  donated  to  the  county 


2o6  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

Red  Cross  organization.  These  currants  were 
shipped  in  a  refrigerator  car  90  miles  down  the 
river  to  Yonkers,  New  York,  where  the  girls  made 
them  into  jelly  and  currant  juice,  the  sugar  being 
donated  by  a  local  refinery. 

Possibly  the  largest  service  that  boys  can  render 
will  be  the  making  of  Red  Cross  splints.  As  has 
already  been  stated  in  another  chapter  the  Cana- 
dian schoolboys  are  doing  a  great  deal  of  this 
work  in  connection  with  their  manual  training. 
An  article  in  a  recent  issue  of  the  Manual  Train- 
ing Magazine  describes  in  detail  the  work  of  the 
manual-training  centers  of  British  Columbia.  These 
splints  are  made  merely  for  first  aid,  and  are  used 
where  it  is  not  necessary  that  they  conform  exactly 
to  the  contour  of  the  limbs  or  body.  They  are 
padded  a  little  with  cotton  or  cloth  and  fitted  on 
the  injured  part  of  the  soldier. 

A  general  conception  prevails  that  Red  Cross 
work  is  limited  to  battle-field  relief,  but  it  must 
be  remembered  that  this  organization  also  carries 
on  civilian  relief.  It  is  very  likely,  as  time  goes 
on,  that  the  schools  will  come  to  realize  that  there 
is  probably  no  better  agency  than  the  Red  Cross 
with  which  they  can  associate  themselves  in  allay- 
ing the  suffering  and  relieving  the  distress  in  the 
community.    It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Red 


RED  CROSS  WORK  207 

Cross  is  splendidly  organized,  with  its  great  central 
headquarters  at  Washington,  its  division  head- 
quarters in  larger  groups  of  states,  and  its  local 
chapters  in  every  county.  There  is  no  activity  of 
the  Red  Cross  which  a  child  cannot  duplicate  in  its 
own  sphere  of  life,  and  the  American  school  may 
well  become  a  center  of  interest  in  Red  Cross  work 
in  time  of  war.  One  of  the  departments  already 
organized  is  that  of  Home  Service,  which  exists 
to  help  families  maintain  their  standards  of  living. 
School-service  work  under  a  Junior  Red  Cross  has 
been  organized  in  order  to  bring  the  schools  into 
direct  touch  with  the  work.  The  schools  can  give 
lessons  in  first  aid,  elementary  hygiene,  and  home 
care  of  the  sick,  in  home  dietetics,  and  in  the 
preparation  of  surgical  dressings.  It  can  make 
the  necessary  supplies  for  local  soldiers  who  are 
in  mobilization  camps.  It  can  make  supplies  for 
the  soldiers'  families,  especially  during  the  winter 
months.  It  can  raise  money  by  means  of  enter- 
tainments of  an  educational  nature,  and  here  op- 
portunities are  often  presented  to  correlate  the 
work  with  history  and  English.  In  short,  during 
the  stress  of  war,  with  its  rising  cost  of  food,  its 
industrial  changes,  its  uncertainties  in  living  con- 
ditions, with  the  home  often  handicapped  by  the 
withdrawal  of  the  chief  wage  earner,  there  will  be 


2o8  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

an  excellent  opportunity  for  the  school  to  come  in 
with  its  aid.  The  diet  of  the  family,  both  in  quality 
and  variety,  may  be  improved  through  the  helpful 
advice  of  the  teacher  of  home  economics;  children 
who  are  in  need  of  medical  care  may  be  sent  to 
the  dispensary.  The  Home  Service  Department 
suggests  that  teachers  may  do  helpful  vocational- 
guidance  work ;  for  in  the  absence  of  father  and 
older  brothers  many  a  boy  and  girl  can  be  helped 
by  a  teacher's  encouragement  to  go  into  occupations 
where  there  is  a  future,  where  skill  can  be  acquired, 
and  where  there  is  a  chance  for  advancement. 

The  following  quotation  from  the  London  Times 
of  some  Red  Cross  work  in  France  pointedly  illus- 
trates what  home  and  school  service  in  the  Red 
Cross  movement  may  mean  in  America. 

The  most  detailed  enumeration  would  hardly  exhaust  the 
activities  of  education  in  the  common  cause  —  voluntary 
contributions  to  the  national  funds  deducted  from  the  sala- 
ries of  teachers ;  hberal  subscriptions  from  pupils ;  partici- 
pation in  the  collection  of  gold  ;  the  dispatch  of  packets  to 
soldiers,  and  of  books  to  the  children  of  reconquered  Alsace ; 
help  given  to  orphans  whom  a  school  or  class  has  taken 
under  its  charge ;  manual  labor  on  behalf  of  soldiers  at  the 
front,  the  wounded,  the  lame,  and  prisoners ;  material  or 
moral  assistance  to  refugees ;  a  welcome  given  to  all  aban- 
doned children,  Belgian  or  French,  in  the  families  of 
masters  or  of  friends  of  the  school ;   correspondence  with 


Service  recognizes  no  school  grading.   Girls  of  the  lower  grades  are  snipping 

waste  pieces  for  fracture  pillows  and  working  with  the  older  girls  who  are 

cutting  hospital  bed  shirts,  Troy,  New  York 


-.-■" 

1  ^^■■11              tm^^m 

■r  ^  ^^ 

li  t 

J 

iHHM 

The  new  spirit  of  household  arts  in  the  schools  is  based  upon  the  project 

plan  and  community  service.   War  needs  create  new  school  practices.   Troy 

(New  York)  girls  at  work  on  Red  Cross  supplies 


»■ 


V.|g 


A  country  school  need  not  be  idle  during  the  summer.    This  one  housed  a 
group  of  farm  cadets 


Plying  squadron  leaving'  carnp  on  an  emergency  call  for  berry  pickers  at 
Highland,  New  York 


RED  CROSS  WORK  209 

soldiers  at  the  front,  wounded,  and  prisoners  ;  attendance  at 
the  funeral  of  soldiers  who  have  died  of  their  wounds  ;  the 
public  reception  by  schools,  lyc^es,  and  universities  of  col- 
leagues or  old  pupils  wounded,  promoted,  or  quoted  in  dis- 
patches ;  befriending  soldiers  who  have  no  family  to  look 
after  them  ;  the  institution  of  workrooms  for  men  and  women 
who  are  out  of  work  ;  participation  in  the  celebration  of  Bel- 
gian Day,  the  Serbian  Day,  the  French  Day,  the  Day  of  the 
75,  the  Day  of  the  Orphans,  and  so  on, — tasks  which  will 
have  to  be  continued  during  the  coming  school  year,  because 
the  need  for  them  will  still  be  present,  and  doubtless,  for 
some  of  them  at  least,  during  the  years  immediately  after 
the  war,  when  the  school  will  still  have  before  it  a  splendid 
opportunity  for  social  service. 

President  Wilson  has  honored  the  school  children 
of  our  country  by  a  proclamation  dated  September 
18,  191 7,  in  which  he  calls  upon  them  to  do  their 
part  in  the  war  by  joining  the  Junior  Red  Cross, 
thus  assisting  in  the  mercy  work  of  the  senior 
organization.    A  portion  of  his  message  is  quoted : 

The  school  is  the  natural  center  of  your  life.  Through  it 
you  can  best  work  in  the  great  cause  of  freedom  to  which 
we  have  all  pledged  ourselves. 

Our  Junior  Red  Cross  will  bring  to  you  opportunities  of 
service  to  your  community  and  to  other  communities  all 
over  the  world,  and  guide  your  service  with  high  and  reli- 
gious ideals.  It  will  teach  you  how  to  save  in  order  that 
suffering  children  elsewhere  may  have  the  chance  to  live. 
It  will  teach  you  how  to  prepare  some  of  the  supplies  which 


2IO  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

wounded  soldiers  and  homeless  families  lack.  It  will  send 
to  you  through  the  Red  Cross  bulletins  the  thrilling  stories 
of  relief  and  rescue.  And,  best  of  all,  more  perfectly  than 
through  any  of  your  other  school  lessons,  you  will  learn  by 
doing  those  kind  things  under  your  teacher's  direction  to 
be  the  future  good  citizens  of  this  great  country  which  we 
all  love. 

Our  President  is  a  master  of  good  pedagogy  as 
well  as  a  leader  of  men,  and  he  expresses  the  very 
best  in  modern  educational  thought.  He  tells  the 
children  to  think  of  their  school  as  the  natural  cen- 
ter of  their  lives ;  to  serve  the  community  in  which 
they  live;  to  reach  out  through  service  and  study 
to  the  larger  world  outside ;  to  have  behind  all 
action  high  ideals ;  to  save  that  others  less  fortu- 
nate may  have ;  to  learn  how  to  do  and  through 
doing  how  to  grow ;  to  learn  directly  of  the  world 
of  action  while  it  is  in  action ;  to  work  with  their 
elders  for  a  common  purpose,  —  the  common  pur- 
pose of  being  useful  citizens  of  our  great  country. 


CHAPTER   IX 

REEDUCATION  OF  THE  DISABLED 

In  all  probability  not  one  person  in  a  hundred 
ever  heard  the  word  "reeducation"  before  reading 
the  very  recent  newspaper  accounts  of  the  gov- 
ernment's plans  as  announced  by  Surgeon-general 
Gorgas  for  rehabilitating  and  reeducating  the  dis- 
abled soldiers.  We  have  been  in  the  habit  of  seeing 
blinded  and  crippled  men  selling  lead  pencils  at 
street  corners,  and  we  have  given  our  pity  and  our 
penny.  We  have  seen  the  wonderful  rugs  woven 
by  the  blind  (assisted  in  the  designing  and  setting 
up  by  people  who  could  see),  and  we  have  bought 
them,  impelled  by  a  sympathetic  interest  in  a 
charitable  cause.  We  have  heard  some  exceptional 
person,  who  has  overcome  tremendous  physical  dis- 
abilities, describe  her  methods  of  studying  college 
subjects  and  competing  successfully  with  those 
who  are  unhandicapped,  and  we  have  said  "  How 
wonderful ! "  and    stopped   thinking   at    that  point. 

As  a  nation  we  have  failed  in  our  duty  to  make 
the  physically  handicapped  economically  self-sup- 
porting and  normally  strong.    It  is  an  educational 


212  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

problem  as  great  as,  if  not  greater  than,  that  of 
assisting  the  mental  defective. 

Only  within  two  years  have  the  vocational  schools 
of  our  country  even  thought  of  instructing  their 
pupils  in  the  general  principles  of  safety.  Only 
since  workingmen's  compensation  laws  and  indus- 
trial insurance  have  come  into  the  foreground  in 
legislative  halls  have  public  men  considered  the 
appalling  need  for  "  safety-first "  instruction  in  fac- 
tories and  in  technical  schools. 

For  the  duration  of  the  war  our  thought  of  safety 
appliances  for  industrial  life  in  peaceful  times  sinks 
into  the  background,  and  we  think  only  of  devices 
for  preventing  suffocation  by  poisonous  gases,  of 
means  of  withstanding  liquid  fire,  of  deflectors  for 
bullets  and  camouflage  for  marching  troops.  But 
notwithstanding  all  these  precautions,  the  inevitable 
results  of  war  are  before  us. 

The  multitude  of  men  who  have  been  injured 
in  the  present  war  is  out  of  all  proportion  to  the 
number  injured  in  any  war  with  which  history  or 
experience  makes  us  acquainted,  and  the  fitting  of 
them  to  be  economically  self-supporting  is  a  task 
of  stupendous  proportions.  For  the  problem  of  the 
support  of  these  men  cannot  be  met  entirely  by  pen- 
sions ;  even  if  this  were  possible,  the  man  would  thus 
become  a  dead  weight  for  the  rest  of  the  country 


REEDUCATION  OF  THE  DISABLED      213 

to  carry,  an  unenviable  position  from  all  points 
of  view.  In  the  case  of  the  professional  man,  he 
may,  even  if  handicapped,  carry  on  his  work;  but 
the  man  with  a  trade,  when  maimed  or  blinded, 
must  be  taught  some  other  vocation  or  be  provided 
with  some  mechanical  substitute  for  his  loss  in  legs 
or  arms  and  often  with  special  tools  and  other 
apparatus  which  will  enable  him  to  carry  on  his  for- 
mer occupation  or  a  new  one.  It  will  not  be  possible 
to  place  all  these  men  as  ticket  sellers,  news  vendors, 
gatemen,  and  in  other  positions  hitherto  appropri- 
ate for  the  industrially  disabled  ;  and  our  vocational 
schools,  the  medical  profession,  and  the  national 
government  must  cooperate  in  a  study  of  the 
reeducation  of  injured  soldiers  with  the  aim  of 
putting  them  on  the  pay  roll. 

On  July  31,  191 7,  announcement  was  made 
through  the  press  of  the  United  States  that  a 
government  system  for  the  rehabilitation  and  reedu- 
cation of  men  disabled  in  the  fighting  abroad  would 
be  made  an  adjunct  of  the  proposed  scheme  for 
the  federal  insurance  of  soldiers  and  sailors,  and 
that  the  plans  for  the  rehabilitation  of  these  men 
would  probably,  like  those  in  Canada,  be  modeled 
after  the  systems  in  use  in  France  and  England. 
It  is,  of  course,  part  of  the  government's  duty  to 
provide  for  the  future  of  men  crippled  in  its  service. 


214  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

It  is  not  the  province  of  the  several  philanthropic 
agencies  which  in  the  past  have  commendably 
endeavored  to  care  for  the  blind  and  the  crippled 
by  teaching  them  the  handiworks  of  weaving,  brush- 
making,  etc.  The  work  must  be  done  on  a  sound 
and  scientific  basis,  and  be  adjusted  to  economic 
conditions  on  a  vast  scale  such  as  no  philanthropic 
society  can  hope  to  maintain ;  that  is,  it  must  not 
be  relief  work,  it  must  be  governmental  construc- 
tive work  in  reeducation  which  shall  teach  the  dis- 
abled man  how  to  overcome  the  disadvantage  of 
his  infirmity  in  reentering  the  industrial  world. 

To  learn  the  extent  of  what  may  be  done  in  this 
work  of  rehabilitation,  England,  Canada,  and  the 
United  States  look  to  France,  —  to  the  municipal 
vocational-training  school  for  soldiers  at  Lyons 
known  as  L'Ecole  J  off  re  and  the  many  schools 
patterned  after  it  in  other  cities;  to  the  Institution 
of  St.  Maurice,  at  Paris,  which  has  been  estab- 
lished by  the  French  government  to  be  a  model 
for  other  institutions ;  to  the  Laboratory  of  Research 
on  Vocational  Work,  in  Paris,  directed  by  Dr.  Jules 
Amar;  and  to  the  Anglo-Belgian  hospitals,  especi- 
ally that  at  Vernon.  It  has  been  announced  that  the 
United  States  will  pattern  its  training  school  after 
the  Institution  of  St.  Maurice,  which  is  a  clearing 
house  of  experiments  and  research  for  the  continent. 


REEDUCATION  OF  THE  DISABLED      215 

There  are  also  in  France,  as  in  England  and 
Canada,  convalescent  homes  for  disabled  soldiers,  — 
many  of  which  are  supported  by  private  benevo- 
lence,—  where  trades  are  taught.  At  the  Institute 
of  Les  Amis  des  Soldats  Aveugles,  in  the  suburbs 
of  Paris,  the  blind  soldiers  are  taught  the  trades  of 
basket-making,  bootmaking,  brush-making,  netting, 
harness-making,  and  bookbinding,  the  course  taking 
about  six  months  before  the  pupils  become  profi- 
cient. The  institution  runs  its  own  printing  estab- 
lishment for  literature  in  Braille  (the  print  for  the 
blind).  The  blind  are  peculiarly  incapacitated,  and 
the  occupations  open  to  them  are  consequently 
limited.  Private  benevolence  has  done  much  to 
lessen  their  economic  misfortune,  and  the  govern- 
ment must  do  more.  Some  French  doctors  believe 
that  tobacco  manufacturing  and  matchmaking  are 
adapted  to  the  blind  because  of  their  well-known 
delicacy  of  touch ;  many  hospitals  are  giving  them 
lessons  in  the  art  of  massage,  for  the  same  reason, 
believing  that  the  blind  man  can  qualify  for  this 
employment  in  a  few  months.  The  work,  how- 
ever, is  still  in  the  experimental  stage.  But  the 
most  progressive  work  in  France  has  been  done 
in  the  municipal  and  government  training  schools 
in  equipping  the  maimed  and  crippled  for  work, 
and  it  is  this  of  which  this  chapter  will  treat. 


2i6  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

The  government  institution  of  St.  Maurice  fol- 
lows the  lead  of  the  now  famous  L'Ecole  J  off  re, 
which  in  turn  learned  much  from  a  school  at 
Charleroi,  maintained  before  the  war  for  victims 
of  industrial  accidents.  L'Ecole  Joffre  was  the  pio- 
neer which  has  blazed  the  way  for  the  technical  in- 
struction of  the  wounded.  It  was  founded  under 
the  direction  of  the  city  of  Lyons,  with  the  mayor 
of  the  city,  Edouard  Herriot,  most  active  in  the 
undertaking,  and  Maurice  Barres  to  spread  its 
fame  with  winged  words.  To  house  it,  an  old 
disused  chateau  in  a  populous  part  of  the  city 
was  put  in  order  late  in  19 14,  and  early  in  1915 
the  men  discharged  from  the  hospital  and  pro- 
nounced suitable  for  training  entered  upon  their 
course  of  instruction.  The  first  one  hundred 
cases  received  were  restricted  to  those  disabled 
but  cured  of  wounds,  the  partially  paralyzed,  and 
those  recovered  from  amputation.  To  direct  the 
technical  work.  Monsieur  Baseque,  a  professor  in 
the  industrial-accident  school  at  Charleroi,  was 
chosen.  The  success  of  the  school  was  immediate, 
and  by  September  another  was  opened  in  the 
outskirts  of  the  city  to  accommodate  80  men. 

Naturally,  at  first,  experiments  were  made,  and 
the  experience  of  L'Ecole  Joffre  is  most  valua- 
ble to  us.    Three  schemes  were  inaugurated :  one, 


REEDUCATION  OF  THE  DISABLED      217 

called  placement  a  domicile,  where  an  allowance 
was  made  the  man,  who  was  to  live  in  his  own 
home  while  he  entered  a  workshop  to  learn  a 
craft  of  some  sort ;  another,  la  mode  de  rexternat, 
where  the  man  pupil  lived  at  his  home  or  in 
lodgings  while  attending  classes  daily,  receiving 
at  the  school  at  noon  a  canteen  meal  in  order  to 
save  the  time  which  would  otherwise  be  taken  in 
going  home ;  and  a  third,  le  regime  de  rinternat, 
where  he  lived  in  the  institution  as  a  pupil  in  a 
boarding  school.  Experience  developed  that  this 
last  method  was  the  only  one  which  might  be 
adopted  with  any  assurance  of  success,  the  others 
subjecting  the  men  to  possible  discouragement, 
through  the  jealousy  shown  by  other  shop  workers, 
the  necessarily  slow  progress,  the  inequality  of  pay, 
the  varying  degrees  of  instruction,  and  insufficient 
supervision.  Canada  too,  after  investigation,  has 
found  that  the  men  throughout  their  training  must 
live  at  the  school  and  be  under  supervision,  in 
order  to  avoid  discouragement  and  the  forming  of 
bad  habits  of  idleness  and  alcoholism,  and  to  insure 
continuity  of  interest  in  their  work. 

The  condition  of  entrance  to  L'Ecole  Joffre 
in  Lyons  is  that  the  man  must  be  pronounced 
permanently  unfit  for  military  service.  Next  he 
is  examined  to  ascertain  his  fitness  for  industrial 


2i8  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

work,  a  matter  determined  by  his  freedom  from  dis- 
ease, his  previous  work,  his  general  education  and 
abihty,  the  employment  preferred,  and  the  occupa- 
tions open.  Whenever  possible,  the  man  is  kept 
in  his  former  employment.  This  principle  is  sound 
economically  and  psychologically,  and  must  be 
adhered  to  in  our  schools.  The  employments  for 
which  training  is  given  are  bookkeeping,  short- 
hand and  typewriting,  paper-stitching,  bookbinding, 
toy-making,  shoemaking,  woodworking  and  draft- 
ing, tailoring,  wood  carving,  gardening,  and  machine 
adjusting.  Office  work  offers  special  opportunity 
to  the  one-handed  and  the  crippled,  as  stenography 
and  typewriting  do  to  the  blind.  The  course  with 
commercial  subjects,  it  was  found,  had  to  be  care- 
fully restricted,  for  many  without  sufficient  educa- 
tion wished  to  take  it  up,  and  there  was  danger  of 
sending  too  many  men  into  occupations  already 
well  supplied  with  competent  workers. 

L'Ecole  Joffre  is  a  municipal  undertaking,  a 
free  school,  the  men  pupils  paying  no  board  or 
tuition.  It  is  in  a  measure  subsidized,  for  the 
school  receives  from  the  Ministry  of  War  a  grant 
of  3  francs  50  centimes  for  each  pupil  for  each 
day's  attendance.  The  other  funds  to  support  the 
school  are  provided  in  various  ways  —  popular  sub- 
scriptions and   grants   by  provincial  organizations 


REEDUCATION  OF  THE  DISABLED      219 

and  other  official  bodies.  As  for  the  men  them- 
selves, they  do  not,  while  in  training,  receive  the 
government  pension  of  i  franc  70  centimes  a  day, 
but  the  school  makes  each  man  an  allowance  of 
I  franc  25  centimes  a  day  from  its  own  funds,  so 
far  as  they  permit  of  such  liberality. 

The  work  done  by  the  city  of  Lyons  has  been 
followed  in  many  localities,  —  Bourges,  Bordeaux, 
Marseille,  Rouen,  and  others,  in  most  cases 
endowed  by  the  municipalities.  At  Bourges  addi- 
tional classes  are  held  in  silver-engraving,  hair- 
dressing,  and  locksmith  work. 

In  the  similar  school  in  Marseille,  tinsmiths, 
foundry  workers,  jewelers,  and  metal  workers  are 
trained.  At  Cluses,  in  19 15,  seventy  partially  dis- 
abled men  were  serving  an  apprenticeship  in 
clock-making.  This  is  sitting  work,  but  it  demands 
the  possession  of  one  hand  and  at  least  two  fin- 
gers on  the  other,  and  an  exceptionally  good  eye, 
so  it  is  not  so  generally  taught  as  other  trades. 
At  Cluny  a  course  of  training  has  been  established 
for  the  former  workmen  who  wish  to  become  mas- 
ter workmen  and  designers;  that  is,  the  school 
specializes  in  training  those  whose  ability  is  above 
the  average. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  in  French  provinces 
there  are  many  more  hand  processes  in  use  than 


220  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

in  the  United  States.  Joinery  and  carpentry,  for 
example,  employ  tools  to  make  parts  which  in 
this  country  are  turned  out  in  factories.  The 
industrial  difference  is  evident  in  some  of  the 
photographs  of  the  rehabilitated  French  workmen 
who  are  shown  ingeniously  at  work  with  artificial 
"  hands  and  arms "  on  processes  for  which  there 
is  no  field  here.  Many  French  soldiers,  too,  find 
employment  in  toy  making,  a  real  industry  for 
France  and  Germany,  but  one  which  is  unlikely 
to  be  developed  here  to  any  extent.  In  America 
we  must  fit  our  disabled  men  to  tend  machines, 
and  not  make  the  blunder  of  preparing  men  for 
operations  which  are  out  of  date  in  our  standard- 
ized machine  industries.  In  a  very  moving  little 
book,  "  Les  jeunes  filles  fran9aises  et  la  guerre " 
(Jules  Combarieu,  Paris,  191 6),  we  read  of  a  man 
who  was  employed  in  a  joinery  establishment  after 
suffering  the  amputation  of  both  hands.  His  left 
arm  was  furnished  with  a  leather  glove  to  which 
was  adapted  an  ingenious  instrument  for  holding 
nails.  His  right  arm  was  fitted  with  another 
glove  arrangement  to  which  a  hammer  was  at- 
tached. With  the  left  he  took  the  nails ;  and 
with  the  right  he  pounded  them  into  a  piece  of 
wood.  Marvelous  as  the  achievement  may  be,  in 
America  this  workman  would  belong  to  the  class 


REEDUCATION  OF  THE  DISABLED      221 

for  whom  special  relief  workshops  must  be  main- 
tained. Work  in  reeducation  must  naturally  be 
adapted  to  the  demands  of  the  vicinity;  the 
French  towns  of  Nancy,  Clermont,  and  Montpellier 
have  not  the  industrial  conditions  of  Pittsburgh, 
Worcester,  or  Birmingham. 

In  Paris  the  model  government  institution  of 
St.  Maurice  contains  both  a  convalescent  hospital 
and  a  training  school  for  discharged  patients.  It 
has  the  advantage  over  L'Ecole  J  off  re  of  uniting 
hospital  and  school,  giving  an  opportunity  of  com- 
bining physical  with  industrial  reeducation.  It  is 
therefore  possible  to  have  at  St.  Maurice,  under 
the  direction  of  Dr.  Bourillon,  physiotherapy  by 
massage,  electricity,  medical  gymnastics,  and  mech- 
anotherapy, which  prepare  the  man  for  his  reedu- 
cation. Dr.  Bourillon  affirms  that  this  preliminary 
medical  care  reduces  the  effort  which  the  patient 
must  make  to  learn  and  exercise  a  trade. 

The  French  government  also  maintains  at  Paris 
the  Laboratoire  des  Recherches  sur  le  Travail  Pro- 
fessionel,  —  an  establishment  for  the  scientific  ex- 
amination of  wounded  men,  particularly  to  ascertain 
the  percentage  of  their  disability  in  the  labor  mar- 
ket. The  question  of  how  many  disabled  men  are 
capable  of  reeducation  is  one  not  rigidly  deter- 
mined.   There  are,  of  course,  some  hopeless  cases 


222  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

which  will  have  to  be  entirely  dependent  on  the 
government  for  their  support,  whether  by  pension 
or  other  means  under  discussion.  But  the  figures 
of  Dr.  Jules  Amar,  director  of  this  laboratory  of 
industrial  research,  a  man  who  has  devised  me- 
chanical apparatus  for  developing  the  capacities  of 
injured  limbs,  show  that  of  the  maimed  cases  which 
have  come  under  his  observation  at  least  80  per 
cent  are  capable  of  vocational  reeducation.  Of  this 
proportion  45  per  cent  succeed  in  earning  normal 
salaries  after  a  training  including  some  specializ- 
ing; 20  per  cent  are  partially  restored  to  normal 
wage  earning;  while  the  remaining  15  per  cent 
can  only  obtain  work  in  shops  maintained  especi- 
ally for  the  disabled,  such  as  a  toymaking  studio. 
Of  the  reeducation  of  this  80  per  cent  Dr.  Amar 
says:  "It  is  a  question  of  science  and  method;  it 
demands  the  organization  of  training  schools.  .  .  . 
It  unites  medical  and  technical  knowledge  to  the 
end  that  artificial  limbs  shall  be  adapted  to  satisfy 
physical  and  vocational  capabilities.  The  propor- 
tion of  men  dependent  upon  relief  is  then  re- 
duced ;  and  one  must  endeavor,  without  ceasing, 
to  diminish  it."^ 

The    method   in   the   Paris  schools  is  scientific. 
"In  the  training  schools,"  he  continues,  "  the  object 

^  Special  Bulletin  of  Military  Hospitals  Commission,  Canada,  April,  1916. 


REEDUCATION  OF  THE  DISABLED      223 

of  the  instruction  is  to  supplement  the  dimin- 
ished physical  capacity  of  the  disabled  man  with  a 
greater  knowledge  of  his  trade,  superior  technical 
instruction,  or  better  vocational  adjustment." 

The  first  responsibility  falls  on  the  medical  ex- 
aminer. To  reequip  the  maimed  physically,  an 
indispensable  prosthesis  (an  addition  of  an  artificial 
part  to  supply  the  missing  member  of  the  body) 
is  made,  the  dynamical  prosthesis  —  not  the  kind 
which  replaces  the  member,  but  that  which  reestab- 
lishes or  repairs  XSx^  functions.  What  the  wounded 
man  needs  is  not  an  admirable  imitation  of  the 
missing  arm  or  leg,  ingenious  and  often  fragile 
appliances,  but  a  practical  working  tool,  —  a  socket 
into  which  a  variety  of  tools  can  be  fitted. 

Next,  in  the  laboratory  of  the  school  an  analysis 
of  the  workman's  movements  is  made  in  relation 
to  their  regularity,  direction,  speed,  and  according 
to  the  force  they  expend.  The  measure  of  the 
man's  physical  incapacity  is  deduced  from  impres- 
sions gathered  in  this  analysis,  and  from  it  the 
method  of  training  must  be  devised.  Furnished 
with  his  card  of  qualifications,  the  man  passes  from 
the  hospital  laboratory  to  the  workshop,  where  ex- 
perts instruct  him  in  theory  and  practice.  The  first 
thing  to  determine  is  whether  a  man  cannot  per- 
form the  operations  of  his  former  trade.    In  many 


224  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

cases  a  man  imagines  that  the  disability  caused  by 
amputation  of  fingers,  hand,  or  arm  makes  him 
unfit  for  the  work  he  did  previous  to  the  war. 
But  where  the  school  is  attached  to  a  hospital 
and  the  man's  disability  can  be  accurately  known, 
the  union  of  medical  skill  and  technical  instruc- 
tion makes  it  possible  to  restore  him  to  useful- 
ness with  the  minimum  of  effort  and  waste. 

Dr.  Amar  recommends  for  special  relief  work 
for  the  15  per  cent  who  are  not  capable  of  any 
great  degree  of  reeducation,  shops  which  will  exe- 
cute orders  for  easily  manufactured  articles,  involv- 
ing such  processes  as  light  cooperage,  stamping, 
plaiting,  toymaking,  —  work  such  as  is  offered  at 
the  shop  in  Rue  de  la  Durance,  Paris. 

Another  institution  whose  methods  are  similar 
to  those  employed  at  St.  Maurice  and  by  Dr.  Amar 
is  the  Anglo-Belgian  Military  Institute,  at  Port 
Villez,  Vernon,  under  the  technical  director  Major 
Haccourt.  It  accommodates  over  800  men,  and  is 
self-supporting,  the  land  where  it  is  situated  hav- 
ing been  originally  covered  with  forests,  the  sale 
of  which  financed  the  undertaking  at  first.  Forty- 
three  trades  are  taught  here,  and  a  large  farm  is 
maintained  on  which  horses  wounded  in  war  are 
cared  for  and  made  useful.  The  workshops  pro- 
vide for  commercial  courses,  telegraphy,  wall-paper 


REEDUCATION  OF  THE  DISABLED      225 

designing,  the  manufacture  of  motor  vehicles  and 
electrical  machinery  of  all  kinds,  plumbing  and 
tinsmithing,  rabbit  and  poultry  farming,  fur  curing 
and  dyeing,  etc.  The  shops  make  fuse  boxes  for 
munitions,  and  various  army  supplies.  At  Vernon 
the  men  pupils  are  regarded  as  still  in  the  Belgian 
army,  receiving  military  pay ;  they  have  no  option 
as  to  entrance,  since  they  are  under  military  disci- 
pline, but  enter  as  soon  as  they  are  discharged 
from  the  Anglo- Belgian  hospital  at  Rouen.  In  this 
school  the  services  of  the  best  professors  in  different 
trades  are  obtained  without  trouble,  for  the  director 
can  requisition  any  man  in  the  Belgian  army  for 
any  required  purpose.  Before  the  war  Belgium  had 
a  large  proportion  of  highly  trained  workmen ;  and 
with  compulsory  reeducation  and  military  discipline 
the  operation  of  this  institution  is  much  simplified. 

In  working  out  plans  for  reeducation  in  the 
United  States  we  must  have  in  mind  certain  prin- 
ciples. There  is  the  necessity  of  making  our  train- 
ing thorough.  Our  problem  will  be  not  to  find 
employment  for  the  period  of  the  war,  during  which 
there  is  a  constant  demand  for  workers,  but  to  train 
the  disabled  for  an  occupation  in  which  they  can 
hold  a  place  after  the  temporary  shortage  of  labor 
created  by  the  war  conditions  is  over.  It  is  obvious 
that  if  the  men  are   incompetent  and  ill-prepared 


226  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

for  their  work,  they  will  be  weeded  out  as  soon 
as  skilled  men  are  available.  Their  work  is  barred 
from  that  demanding  manual  strength ;  nor  can  it 
hope  to  belong  to  that  highly  specialized  kind 
which  would  demand  an  arduous  and  elaborate 
training.  But  there  is  a  wide  range  of  semiskilled 
occupations  where  a  handicapped  man  can  earn 
more  than  if  he  should  enter  after  a  long  course 
of  training  the  highly  skilled  trade  where  he  would 
meet  the  competition  of  the  physically  normal. 

There  are  at  least  three  kinds  of  disabilities  our 
schools  will  have  to  deal  with.  First,  there  is  the 
man  who  has  lost  his  right  arm.  This  man  must, 
whenever  possible,  be  taught  to  use  his  left  hand  in 
his  trade,  although  it  is  sometimes  easier  to  learn 
a  new  process  than  to  change  right-hand  to  left- 
hand  methods  in  the  old  operation.  In  carpentry, 
turning,  and  machine  trades,  however,  the  one- 
armed  man  may  continue  to  be  employed,  and 
our  vocational  schools  should  incorporate  courses 
in  left-hand  training.  Here  also  we  find  another 
need :  there  must  be  built  for  the  disabled  left- 
hmid  machines. 

Next  there  is  the  case  of  the  man  who  must  be 
instructed  in  an  allied  trade  because  his  former  one 
is  pronounced  by  medical  examination  and  the 
tests  of   mechanotherapy   to  be    impossible.     And 


REEDUCATION  OF  THE  DISABLED      227 

last  there  is  the  case  of  the  man  whose  injury 
makes  necessary  the  fitting  of  dehcately  adjusted 
prosthesis  and  a  course  of  expert  training  before 
he  can  become  a  wage  earner. 

Our  chief  difficulty  in  our  work  of  reeducation 
will  be  to  secure  the  right  kind  of  teaching  force, 
and  it  is  clear  that  our  government  must  establish 
schools  to  train  our  technical  instructors  how  to 
adapt  their  knowledge  of  trade  teaching  to  the  kind 
of  work  demanded  in  giving  instruction  to  the 
physically  disabled.  The  selection  of  the  proper 
type  of  teacher  is  vital  to  the  success  of  any  scheme 
of  reeducation.  The  ideal  instructor  must  not  only 
know  his  trade  but  be  able  to  suit  his  methods  to 
the  individual  case  so  as  to  get  the  best  response 
from  each  man  under  his  direction.  At  present  it 
seems  as  if  there  would  be  no  way  of  training  in- 
structors except  by  sending  chosen  trade  teachers 
to  St.  Maurice  to  study  the  French  methods,  that 
they  may  return  to  this  country  properly  equipped 
to  select  and  instruct  others,  until  such  time  as 
a  government  school  of  the  right  type  is  well 
established  in  this  country. 

As  for  the  schools  themselves,  they  must  be 
undertaken  by  the  government,  even  if  additional 
hospitals  and  laboratories  for  research  are  main- 
tained   by    private    benevolence    and    bequest,   for 


228  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

there  should  be  no  Hmit  to  the  funds  available  for 
carrying  on  this  work  of  the  economic  rehabilita- 
tion of  the  men  injured  in  the  service  of  the  coun- 
try, and  it  must  keep  pace  with  the  progressive 
work  in  France  and  elsewhere.  Branch  schools  in 
municipalities  may  be  organized  under  government 
control  and  subsidized  by  federal  money.  Some  of 
our  trade  and  vocational  schools  and  their  equip- 
ment may  be  taken  over  by  the  government  for  this 
purpose.  Our  trade  and  technical  schools  must 
also  include  courses  in  training  teachers  for  this 
special  work,  the  course  to  be  supplemented  by  a 
special  preparation  prescribed  by  the  government. 
In  Canada  the  Military  Hospitals  Commission 
has  made  a  careful  study  of  the  French  and  Anglo- 
Belgian  treatment  in  the  restoration  of  disabled 
soldiers,  and  has  equipped  the  Central  Military  Con- 
valescent Hospital  at  Toronto  with  the  mechano- 
apparatus  similar  to  that  used  in  France  by 
Dr.  Amar  and  Dr.  Bourillon.  Profiting  by  their 
observation  of  the  foreign  hospital  schools,  they 
have  determined  to  consider  the  men  in  training 
as  still  in  hospital  and  under  military  rule,  for  in 
Europe  there  is  absolute  unanimity  of  opinion  that 
the  influence  of  convalescent  homes  and  benevolent 
support  is  bad,  conducive  to  lax  discipline  and  idle- 
ness.   Canada  has  agreed  that  the  earning  power 


REEDUCATION  OF  THE  DISABLED      229 

subsequently  acquired  by  a  pensioner  in  training 
will  not  lessen  his  pension.  To  pass  upon  the 
cases  eligible  for  reeducation,  Canada  has  a  board  of 
three:  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Advisory  Com- 
mittee, a  vocational  ofificer,  and  a  medical  man,  thus 
combining  with  technical  and  medical  aid  advice  in 
the  industrial  choice  and  placement  of  the  man  pupil. 
Realizing  that  reeducation  is  a  new  idea  to  most 
soldiers  and,  indeed,  to  the  public  generally,  Canada 
has  put  forth  a  propaganda  of  making  popular  the 
training  courses.  A  bulletin  has  been  posted  con- 
spicuously in  public  buildings  and  a  printed  card 
circulated  bearing  the  same  information,  "  What 
Every  Disabled  Soldier  Should  Know."  Aside  from 
encouragement  and  directions  of  where  to  obtain 
help,  etc.,  we  find  the  following: 

That  his  strength  and  earning  capacity  will  be  restored 
in  the  highest  degree  possible. 

That  if  his  disability  prevents  him  from  returning  to  his 
old  work,  he  will  receive  free  training  for  a  new  occupation. 

That  full  consideration  is  given  to  his  own  capacity  and 
desires  when  a  new  occupation  has  to  be  chosen. 

That  neither  his  treatment  nor  his  training  nor  his 
transportation  will  cost  him  a  cent. 

That  his  maintenance  and  his  family's  will  be  paid  for 
during  his  training  and  for  a  month  after. 

That  his  home  province  has  a  special  commission  to 
assist  him  in  finding  employment  on  discharge. 


230  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

To  further  the  pubUcity  of  the  work  in  Canada, 
moving-picture  films  have  been  prepared,  system- 
atically illustrating  the  treatment  and  reeducation 
of  wounded  soldiers  in  England,  France,  and  Can- 
ada, and  showing  their  progress  up  to  the  stage 
of  final  recovery.  These  films  have  been  shown  in 
hundreds  of  theaters  throughout  the  Dominion. 

It  is  encouraging  that  occasionally  in  France  and 
Canada  the  vocational  training  in  connection  with 
hospitals  places  a  man  in  a  better  position  financially 
than  before.  The  following  examples  are  given  out 
by  the  Canadian  Military  Hospitals  Commission  and 
are  testimonials  of  the  possibilities  of  rehabilitation. 

Letter  received  is  from  an  ex-private  in  the  13th  Bat- 
talion, Before  enlistment  he  was  getting  $12  a  week  as 
driver  on  a  city  milk  round.  "'  I  always  had  a  liking  for 
drawing,"  he  says,  "  and  I  felt  that  if  I  ever  had  the  chance 
I  would  take  up  a  course  in  mechanical  drawing."  This 
opportunity  came  to  him  at  one  of  the  commission's  con- 
valescent hospitals.  After  six  weeks'  application  to  the 
work  there,  he  was  able  to  secure  an  appointment  begin- 
ning with  $75  a  month,  with  good  prospects  of  advance. 

A  locomotive  fireman  had  enlisted,  was  severely  wounded, 
and  had  to  have  his  left  arm  amputated.  Under  the  com- 
mission's scheme  of  reeducation,  which  is  offered  to  all  men 
incapacitated  for  their  former  work  by  service,  he  received 
special  training  in  telegraphy  and  railway  routine.  As  a 
result  he  secured  an  appointment  as  station  agent  and 
dispatcher  at  $110  a  month. 


REEDUCATION  OF  THE  DISABLED      231 

In  England  the  high  sheriff  of  Lancashire  has 
formulated  a  scheme  for  listing  the  employments 
open  to  the  disabled.  First,  the  employer  is  asked, 
whenever  possible,  to  give  the  returned  soldier  his 
old  job.  Next,  certain  employments  are  listed  as 
being  within  the  powers  of  partially  disabled  men, 
and  with  the  help  of  labor  exchanges  and  of  other 
agencies,  these  are  reserved  for  them. 

It  is  for  the  economic  interest  of  the  State  to 
make  possible  the  employment  of  the  disabled. 
The  amount  of  a  pension  is  not  the  measure  of  the 
cost  of  the  pensioner.  The  nation  cannot  afford  to 
let  any  human  power  go  to  waste  or  lie  idle.  To 
reequip  the  maimed  is  to  make  him  partly  forget 
his  infirmity,  —  an  indispensable  mental  advantage. 
France  is  now  discussing  whether  reeducation  of 
one  form  or  another  shall  be  compulsory,  as  in  the 
Anglo-Belgian  hospital.  "  But  obligatory  or  not," 
says  A.  L.  Bittard,^  "the  industrial  reeducation 
must  be  above  all  a  national  work.  We  should 
regard  it  as  a  debt  owed  to  the  wounded  and  as 
an  effective  preparation  for  the  future  of  the 
nation.  .  .  .  The  State  alone  is  capable  of  giving  all 
the  mutilated  the  maximum  equality  of  treatment, 
where  private  initiative  would  be  totally  incapable 
of  realizing  the  minimum." 

1  A.  L.  Bittard,  Les  ficoles  de  Blesses.    Paris,  1916. 


232  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

The  war  simply  makes  the  question  of  reedu- 
cating and  rehabiHtating  the  disabled  a  striking 
one.  But  we  must  not  forget  that  the  problem  of 
the  injured  is  always  with  us.  It  may  not  be  amiss 
to  point  out  that  54,001  men  and  women  were 
actually  killed  in  the  United  States  during  the  year 
191 3.  This  means  one  killed  every  ten  minutes. 
Over  2,000,000  men  and  women  are  injured  in  the 
industries  in  the  United  States  each  year.  This 
means  one  injured  every  sixteen  seconds.  The 
economic  loss  from  accidental  deaths  and  injuries 
is  nearly  $500,000,000  annually,  and  the  loss  from 
preventable  accidents  and  diseases  would  more  than 
pay  the  cost  of  maintaining  all  the  public  schools  in 
the  United  States.    These  are  appalling  figures. 

At  present  the  great  fear  of  every  boy  who  goes 
to  war  and  of  every  sister  and  mother  of  such  a  boy 
is  that  he  may  go  through  life  maimed  and  de- 
pendent. But  we  never  think  of  the  ever-present 
danger  to  these  boys  of  being  handicapped  physi- 
cally by  merely  going  to  work ;  and  yet  there  are 
more  persons  so  disabled  through  accidents  in  indus- 
trial life  in  normal  times  than  are  disabled  by  war. 

When  our  boys  come  back  from  the  war,  physi- 
cally disabled,  and  through  the  government  work 
in  rehabilitation  and  reeducation  are  made  self- 
supporting  and  self-respecting  members  of  society, 


REEDUCATION  OF  THE  DISABLED      233 

we  shall  begin  to  appreciate  that  we  have  been  ex- 
tremely negligent  in  the  past  in  limiting  our  efforts 
to  help  the  crippled  and  blinded  to  the  good  offices 
of  charity  and  philanthropy.  It  is  a  public  matter. 
It  is  a  problem  of  education.  It  is  an  opportunity 
for  service  for  the  teachers  of  vocational  training, 
for  the  experts  in  vocational  guidance  and  direc- 
tion, for  the  directors  of  placement  and  employment 
bureaus,  and  for  the  designers  of  special  tools  and 
machines  for  the  handicapped.  It  is  an  imme- 
diate problem  in  this  time  of  war ;  it  is  even  more 
significant  in  time  of  peace. 


CHAPTER  X 


FARM   CADETS 


We  can  afford  only  one  fad  in  war  time,  and  that  fad  is 
to  be  farming.  It  will  be  useless  for  little  William  Corning 
Smith,  aged  1 2,  of  Kankakee,  Illinois,  to  stick  his  little  spade 
into  his  back  yard  before  his  admiring  parent.  Individual, 
unorganized  work  on  land  not  properly  prepared  for  agri- 
culture may  be  worse  than  useless ;  it  may  be  wasteful. 
Random  efforts  not  coordinated  in  a  general  scheme  for  the 
utilization  of  school  children  in  large  units  will  be  foolish, 
misdirected  effort.  State,  county,  and  even  national  organ- 
ization are  required  to  make  available  this  latent  power. 
Purely  isolated  effort  will  be  fruitless,  both  as  aids  to  the 
nation  and  education  for  the  child.  Organized  work  will 
bring  the  greater  moral  advantages  of  developing  the  power 
of  concentration  along  with  the  interest  in  national  and  com- 
munity service.  It  will  evoke  an  esprit  de  corps  which  may 
be  capitalized  for  national  use  and  shift  the  usual  interest  in 
gangs  and  athletics,  both  normal  and  natural,  to  work  which 
opens  the  way  to  loyal  industrial  educational  training.^ 

This  was  written  by  John  Dewey  early  in  the 
spring  of  191 7  in  a  message  addressed  to  the  prin- 
cipals and  teachers  of  America  on  how  school 
children  may  be  so  organized  for  farm  service  as  to 

1  Columbia  University  War  Papers. 
234 


FARM  CADETS  235 

Aid  the  nation ; 

Increase  the  food  supply  of  the  country  in  war  time  and 
during  a  world-wide  shortage  of  food ; 

Conscript  the  national  enthusiasm  for  athletics  to  national 
usefulness ; 

Assure  a  vigorous  and  healthy  rising  generation  ; 

Reap  the  advantage  of  organized  effort  with  its  moral  and 
educational  results  ; 

Develop  constructive  patriotism. 

As  may  be  gathered,  Dewey's  idea  was  not  only 
to  organize  the  rural  and  village  children  for  farm 
work  but  also  to  send  the  city  children  into  the 
country  in  camps  and  tent  colonies.  He  said 
further  that  the  plan  was  not  a  dream  and  that 
it  could  be  done. 

A  friend  in  writing  to  me  of  his  attempts  in 
Massachusetts  to  make  the  dream  a  reality  said, 
"It  is  like  nailing  a  jellyfish  to  a  board."  Refer- 
ring to  the  diiificulty  of  obtaining  competent  boys, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  of  convincing  farmers  of  the 
value  of  city-boy  labor,  on  the  other,  he  further 
stated  that  it  was  a  difficult  proposition  to  sell 
something  we  did  not  have  to  somebody  who  did 
not  want  it. 

Few,  if  any,  of  us  knew  very  much  of  the  experi- 
ence, in  this  direction,  of  England,  France,  and 
Germany.    To  be  sure,  we  had  heard  that  France 


236  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

had  attempted  in  a  large  way  to  use  children  at 
farm  labor,  but  had  given  it  up  and  had  replaced 
them  with  old  men,  women,  and  partially  crippled 
returned  soldiers ;  and  we  knew  that  with  the  alarm 
of  the  scarcity  of  labor  and  the  diminishing  number 
of  the  world's  acres  under  cultivation  England  and 
Germany  had  called  upon  women  and  boys  below 
military  age  to  help  meet  the  needs  of  the  situation. 
But  we  in  America  did  not  realize,  to  quote  Dewey 
again,  "  that  we  could  enlist  the  school  children  in  this 
work  in  such  a  manner  that  they  could  serve  with 
results  as  beneficial  to  themselves  as  to  the  nation." 

Before  considering  in  some  detail  the  idea  of 
using  agricultural  labor  of  children  in  America  (and 
it  is  a  subject  worthy  of  elaboration,  for  even  if 
the  war  closes  to-morrow,  we  shall  be  short  of  farm 
labor  for  many  years  —  perhaps  always),  let  us  see 
what  England  and  Germany  have  done  to  utilize 
school  children  for  farm  work. 

In  England  many  of  the  boys  of  14  to  16  in 
the  public  schools  have  volunteered  for  vacation 
and  holiday  agricultural  work  in  hoeing,  planting, 
and  harvesting;  some  of  this  was  gratuitous  labor, 
these  boys  coming  from  the  prosperous  classes 
and    therefore    being    able    to   give    their   services. 

In  July,  1916,  the  Education  Board  published 
a  report  showing  the  number  of  children  excused 


FARM  CADETS  237 

from  attendance  at  school  for  the  purpose  of  agri- 
cultural employment  in  England  and  Wales  on 
May  31,  1916.  The  total  number  so  excused  was 
I5'753'  of  which  number  546  were  between  the 
ages  of  II  and  12;  8018  between  12  and  13;  5521 
between  13  and  14,  and  of  the  remaining  1668 
cases  the  ages  were  between  12  and  14.  Figures 
quoted  relate  solely  to  agricultural  employment 
and  do  not  show  the  full  extent  of  withdrawals 
from  school.  They  also  relate  to  withdrawals  of 
children  who  are  not  qualified  for  total  exemption 
under  the  law.  The  report  also  states  that  "  the 
board  has  no  information  as  to  the  number  of 
children  who  have  been  excused  from  school  attend- 
ance for  purposes  of  industrial  employment  or 
employment  other  than   agriculture." 

Early  in  191 7  several  of  the  county  education 
committees  formulated  plans  for  using  the  labor  of 
children  who  were  to  be  excused  only  for  holidays, 
special  periods,  and  part  times,  the  general  senti- 
ment being,  even  in  the  emergency,  that  no  more 
children  must  be  permanently  excused  for  agricul- 
tural or  industrial  employment.  These  schemes 
are  worthy  of  attention  as  endeavors  to  retain 
children  in  school,  at  the  same  time  modifying 
the  arrangement  of  the  educational  requirements 
to  allow  them  to  perform  farm  and  garden  work. 


238  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

The  Education  Committee  for  the  Lindsay  division  of 
Lincolnshire  considered,  at  a  meeting  held  on  April  13,  19 17, 
the  desirability  of  taking  steps  to  secure  that  the  school 
holidays  this  year  are  fixed  at  such  times  as  will  enable  the 
children  to  be  of  most  assistance  to  the  farmers,  and  it  was 
resolved  that  the  finance  committee  should  be  requested  to 
consider  the  preparation  of  a  scheme  enabling  managers  to 
amend  the  school  time-tables  in  such  a  way  as  will  give  the 
maximum  of  opportunity  for  the  older  children  to  work  on 
the  land  during  the  spring  and  summer.  .  .  .  They  further 
considered  .  .  .  that  in  view  of  the  present  emergency  and  the 
need  of  additional  labor,  especially  in  agricultural  work,  the 
board  will  give  favorable  considerations  to  proposals  for 
extended  or  additional  holidays  in  rural  areas  under  certain 
conditions.  Two  schemes  were  presented,  setting  forth  alter- 
native methods  which  managers  might  be  authorized  to 
adopt  by  which  advantage  can  be  taken  of  the  concessions  of 
the  board,  as  follows  :  (i)  A  scheme  to  give  a  number  up  to 
eighty  additional  afternoons  on  which  the  older  children  can 
be  employed  on  the  land,  managers  to  be  informed  that  a 
school  year  of  not  less  than  320  attendances  will  be  accepted 
as  fulfilling  the  requirements  of  the  board,  instead  of  a 
minimum  of  400  as  heretofore.  On  up  to  eighty  days,  older 
children,  above  prescribed  age,  may  be  released  at  noon  for 
employment  on  the  land,  whilst  the  school  will  be  open  as 
usual  for  the  younger  children,  and  their  attendance  recorded, 
though  not  in  the  official  register.  (2)  A  scheme  to  allow 
up  to  eight  weeks  extra  during  which  the  older  children 
may  be  employed  on  the  land,  managers  to  be  informed  of 
the  number  of  attendances  required  as  in  scheme  one.  Older 
children,  above  a  prescribed  age,  who  are  to  be  employed 


FARM  CADETS  239 

on  the  land,  need  not  attend  school  for  a  period  up  to  eight 
weeks  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  holidays.  The  school  will 
be  kept  open  as  usual  during  such  weeks  for  the  younger 
children,  and  those  attending  will  have  their  attendance 
recorded,  but  not  in  the  official  register.  Under  either 
scheme  it  will  be  necessary  for  the  managers  to  fix  the 
period  or  periods  for  the  year  during  which  the  scheme 
would  be  in  operation,  and  in  some  of  the  larger  rural 
schools  it  might  be  possible  to  release  a  teacher  as  well  as 
the  older  children. 

At  a  meeting  held  on  April  27  it  was  resolved  to  issue  the 
schemes  to  the  managers,  impressing  upon  them  the  fact  that 
the  one  object  is  to  secure  increased  production  of  food,^ 

At  Grimsby  a  committee  was  appointed  to  con- 
sider the  employment  of  children  on  gardens,  allow- 
ing an  acre  plot  to  each  school,  and  25  children, 
under  a  teacher,  to  work  in  cultivating  it.  All 
these  children  are  required  to  attend  school  in  the 
morning,  and  the  consent  of  their  parents  must  be 
obtained  by  them  before  they  are  permitted  to 
begin  afternoon  work.  Since,  as  in  Lincolnshire, 
the  aim  of  the  work  is  increased  food  production, 
the  crops  derived  from  the  cultivation  of  the  land 
acquired  by  the  town  are  to  be  divided  among 
teachers  and  scholars  engaged  in  the  work. 

In  Hull,  also,  the  Educational  Committee,  besides 
encouraging  work  in  school  gardens,  has  authorized 

1  London  Times,  Educational  Supplement,  May  17,  191 7. 


240  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

the  labor  of  schoolboys  in  cultivating  spare  land  in 
various  places  as  a  substitute  for  their  usual  manual 
training  in  the  school  shops. 

In  Hertfordshire  there  are  school  gardens  for  the 
production  of  potatoes,  parsnips,  beets,  and  onions, 
with  school  instruction  in  gardening  given  the 
pupils.  During  the  period  for  planting  there  is  a 
schedule  of  half-time  attendance.  In  Bradford  the 
successful  vegetable  gardening  is  correlated  with 
the  school  work  in  nature  study,  composition,  arith- 
metic, and  drawing,  and  emphasis  is  placed  on  the 
educational  value  of  the  productive  work. 

It  is  difificult  for  America  to  see  the  food  crisis  as 
do  the  nations  which  are  near  the  exhaustion  point. 
While  everyone  must  deplore  the  wholesale  excus- 
ing of  children  to  work  without  supervision,  we 
ought  to  watch  with  interest  all  schemes  which 
will  increase  production  and  yet  will  keep  younger 
children  in  school  for  full  time  and  will  permit  those 
older  to  work  part  time.  This  part-time  work  should 
be  confined  to  the  years  of  14  to  18,  except  possibly 
in  the  case  of  work  in  the  school  garden,  where 
younger  children  may  labor  for  short  periods. 

The  appeal  of  Neville  Chamberlain,  the  Director- 
general  of  National  Service,  in  the  spring  of  191 7, 
for  volunteers  from  such  boys  as  were  able  to 
make  the  sacrifice,  connects  the  need  for  agricultural 


FARM  CADETS  241 

labor  with  the  necessity  for  providing  proper  super- 
vision of  the  boys.  His  plan  for  utilizing  the  labor 
of  English  schoolboys  has  many  features  similar  to 
devices  employed  in  Massachusetts,  New  York,  and 
New  Jersey. 

It  is  well  understood  that  an  abundant  supply  of  labor 
for  the  land  during  the  coming  summer  months  is  an  urgent 
national  necessity.  Many  schemes  have  already  been  organ- 
ized for  the  employment  of  soldiers,  women,  and  prisoners 
of  war,  but  it  is  desirable  to  form  a  reserve  of  labor  so 
organized  as  to  be  available  at  short  notice.  For  this 
reserve  I  turn  to  the  boys  at  our  public  and  other  secondary 
schools.  During  the  last  two  years  many  of  them  have 
given  valuable  help  in  hoeing,  harvesting,  and  timber  cut- 
ting, and  at  the  present  crisis  I  confidently  hope  that  all 
for  whom  it  is  possible  will  make  their  services  available 
both  in  summer  holidays  and,  if  necessary,  during  the 
coming  term.  I  have  accepted  the  offer  of  the  Cavendish 
Association  to  place  at  my  disposal  their  organization, 
which  will  act  in  conjunction  with  a  committee  —  repre- 
sentative of  schools  and  masters  —  having  its  headquarters 
at  St.  Ermin's,  and  working  under  the  director  of  the  agri- 
cultural section  of  this  department.  Full  particulars  of  the 
arrangements  and  procedure  will  shortly  be  issued  by  the 
committee.    The  main  points  are  as  follows : 

(i)  The  age  of  the  boys  permitted  to  volunteer  should 
not  be  below  16  except  in  the  cases  where  the  school 
authorities  consider  boys  of  15  sufficiently  strong  to  under- 
take the  necessary  work.  (2)  The  boys  will  be  organized  in 
squads  of  varying  sizes,  each  in  charge  of  a  master  or  other 


242  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

responsible  person.  (3)  It  is  proposed  that  during  term 
time  the  period  of  continuous  whole-time  service  should  not 
exceed  two  weeks.  Every  effort  will  be  made  to  find  work 
for  schoolboy  volunteers  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  school, 
but  if  the  work  lies  at  some  distance  from  the  school,  rail- 
way fares  will  be  paid  and  careful  provision  will  be  made 
for  board  and  lodging.  No  boy  will  be  expected  to  volun- 
teer for  service  during  term  whose  school  work  is  of  imme- 
diate importance ;  for  example,  a  boy  who  is  preparing  for 
a  scholarship  examination.  I  recognize  that  this  part  of  the 
scheme  may  present  some  difficulties  to  all  but  the  large 
public  schools,  but  I  hope  that  some  of  the  larger  state- 
aided  secondary  schools  may  be  able  to  join  in  it.  Before 
doing  so,  however,  they  should  communicate  with  the  Board 
of  Education.  (4)  In  the  holidays  they  will  work  for  not 
less  than  three  or  four  weeks,  and  it  is  hoped  that,  if  neces- 
sary, they  may  have  leave  of  absence  from  school  until  the 
end  of  September,  (5)  The  whole  working  hours  will  be 
carefully  proportioned  to  the  average  strength  of  each  squad, 
and  the  wages  adjusted  accordingly.  If  the  total  sum 
earned  does  not  meet  the  cost  of  living,  the  deficit  will 
under  special  conditions  be  made  up. 

I  trust  that  when  the  call  for  boys'  help  comes,  parents 
will  recognize  its  urgency  and  will  not  hesitate  to  allow 
their  sons  to  render  this  service  for  their  country. 

In  Germany  there  has  been  a  systematic  con- 
tribution from  schools  to  agriculture  since  March, 
191 5.  Authority  was  given  to  the  respective  school 
officials  to  grant  the  necessary  leave  of  absence 
to  older  children  for  farm  and  garden  cultivation. 


FARM  CADETS  243 

With  the  increasing  need  of  securing  a  sufficient 
supply  of  food  for  the  nation,  excuses  of  pupils  from 
school  increased.  An  additional  service  of  pupils 
was  required  by  an  order  issued  on  May  15,  191 7, 
relative  to  combating  fruit  and  vegetable  pests. 

Looking  forward  to  future  scarcity,  Germany,  with 
the  help  of  the  teaching  staff  and  government 
leaflets,  next  enlisted  school  children  in  the  work 
of  collecting  field  and  forest  edible  products.  Chil- 
dren were  engaged  in  the  work  of  gleaning,  and 
in  the  summer  of  191 5  the  gleanings  amounted  to 
approximately  $50,000,  the  greater  part  of  which 
was  turned  over  to  the  Red  Cross  as  the  children's 
contribution.  In  the  summer  and  autumn  of  191 5 
the  children  aided,  too,  in  gathering  fruits.  During 
the  following  winter  the  schools  gave  instruction 
in  the  substitution  of  fruit  products  for  fat  and  pro- 
teid.  These  were  pointed  lessons  both  in  frugality 
and  in  public  spirit. 

Additional  requirement  of  the  children's  services 
was  made  when  the  continued  scarcity  of  fats  made 
it  imperative  to  conserve  acorns,  horse-chestnuts, 
and  seeds  containing  oil,  the  gathering  of  which 
was  impossible  without  the  aid  of  school  children. 
An  order  of  August  21,  191 6,  authorized  the  em- 
ployment of  children  to  take  part  in  the  extraction 
from  trees  in  the  state  forests  of  resin  needed  chiefly 


244  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

for  the  paper  industry;  and  in  the  same  season 
children  were  called  upon  to  engage  in  the  collec- 
tion of  kernels  of  cherries,  plums,  and  apricots  in 
enormous  quantities  for  oil  extraction. 

The  school  administrators  and  teachers  of  Amer- 
ica knew  little,  if  anything,  of  the  farm-placement 
ventures  of  European  countries.  But  they  were 
told  most  emphatically  in  the  spring  of  191 7  that 
the  military  force  was  but  one  factor  in  national 
organization,  and  that  the  ultimate  decision  as  to 
victory  might  well  be  with  the  farmer.  So  in 
American  fashion  we  started  at  it;  New  Jersey 
with  its  "junior  industrial  army,"  Massachusetts 
with  its  bronze-badged  boy  farmers,  and  New 
York  with  its  "farm  cadets." 

We  all  thought  we  were  original,  and  perhaps 
we  were ;  and  yet  it  is  certainly  not  new  for  school- 
boys to  work  outside  the  school  session  when  of 
proper  age.  Whether  for  the  father  or  a  neigh- 
borhood employer,  boys  14  and  over  have  worked 
in  stores  and  gardens,  in  summer  hotels,  in  offices, 
garages,  and  manufacturing  plants.  Nor  is  it  un- 
usual, for  that  matter,  to  have  the  outside  work 
coordinated  with  the  school  and  receiving  due  credit 
in  the  curriculum.  The  cooperative  high-school 
and  vocational  courses  in  many  cities  —  Fitchburg, 
Beverly,  Providence,  Hartford,  Indianapolis,  Chicago, 


FARM  CADETS  245 

and  New  York  —  are  well  known  to  those  who  are 
familiar  with  the  extension  and  cooperative  efforts 
of  our  vocational  schools. 

Furthermore  we  are  familiar  with  the  two  types 
of  camps:  the  adult-labor  and  the  recreation  camp. 
The  work  camp  is  much  the  older,  dating  back 
to  the  building  of  railroads  and  the  opening  of 
lumber  districts.  In  the  past  decade  the  recreation 
summer  camps  have  become  a  potent  factor  in 
secondary-school  life,  making  a  complement  of 
the  school  year's  work  by  laying  stress  on  the 
physical  development  of  outdoor  woodland  and 
country  experiences.  Some  of  these  camps,  while 
primarily  recreational,  have  had  courses  in  manual 
training,  college  preparation,  arts  and  crafts,  and 
languages,  yet  so  clearly  is  their  play  nature  of 
chief  importance  that  no  one  thinks  of  them  as 
work  camps. 

Now  the  farm-cadet  movement  involves  the  farm 
labor  of  the  schoolboy,  who  is  sent  out  and  credited 
for  his  work  by  his  school  and  is  added  to  a  camp 
life  where  in  a  squad  of  his  fellow  schoolboys  he 
is  looked  after  by  an  appointed  leader  as  if  in 
a  Y.  M.C.A.  camp.  Thus  we  have,  out  of  familiar 
ingredients,  a  new  compound,  bringing  into  relation 
the  boy,  the  parent,  the  supervisor,  the  employer, 
and  the  school. 


246  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

This  agricultural  movement  in  connection  with 
the  schools  had  its  inception  at  the  Philadelphia 
meeting  of  the  Eastern  Arts  and  Manual  Training 
Teachers'  Association  early  in  191 7.  At  once  three 
Eastern  states  —  Massachusetts,  New  Jersey,  and 
New  York — began  to  formulate  plans  for  its  oper- 
ation.^ For  it  was  not  to  be  the  simple  expedient 
of  excusing  boys  from  school  to  work  on  farms,  as 
has  been  the  practice  in  many  localities,  but  a  plan 
whereby  the  boy  was  to  be  retained  in  the  school 
system,  substituting  in  his  course  during  a  portion 
of  the  year  agricultural  work  for  the  academic  and 
vocational  studies  of  the  regular  curriculum. 

In  analyzing  the  problem  it  was  found  that 
there  were  three  types  of  boys  to  be  considered : 
(i)  the  boy  in  a  farming  district,  who  could  be 
employed  on  the  farm  of  his  father  or  a  neighbor; 
(2)  the  boy  in  a  town  near  an  agricultural  center, 
who  could  be  employed  within  a  radius  of  a  few 
miles  of  his  home  and  school ;  (3)  the  boy  from 
a  city,  who  would  have  to  be  sent  to  distant  farms 
and  whose  welfare  would  not  be  in  the  charge  of 
his  school  principal  and  parents.  The  case  of  the 
first  boy  is  very  simple ;  the  second  is  also  easy 
of  solution ;    but   if  the   third    boy  is    to  be   used, 

^  California  and  Indiana  developed  plans  about  the  same  time.  Before 
the  first  of  July,  1917,  the  movement  became  quite  general  in  America. 


FARM  CADETS  247 

there  will  need  to  be  a  carefully  worked-out  plan 
for  his  placement,  record  of  work,  accommodations, 
and  general  welfare.  It  is  for  the  third  boy  that 
the  camp  must  be  established,  where  he  will  be 
looked  after  by  a  responsible  person  who  will  see 
that  he  has  the  proper  tent,  board,  work,  and 
sanitary  arrangements. 

The  plans  of  the  different  states  for  utilizing 
boy  power,  while  aiming  toward  the  one  desirable 
end  of  increasing  our  food  production,  have  dif- 
fered widely  in  detail,  owing  to  the  variation  in 
the  compulsory-attendance  laws,  to  the  latitude 
exercised  in  some  states  in  excusing  boys  pre- 
maturely, and  to  the  varying  degrees  of  investiga- 
tion of  placement,  record  of  work,  and  supervision. 
All  states  agree  in  giving  the  boy  who  is  excused 
for  farm  work  credit  in  his  school  work.  Canada, 
too,  excuses  boys  over  14  for  farm  work,  allowing 
them  full  school  credit  for  three  months'  labor. 
While  it  may  be  urged  that  it  is  not  pedagogically 
sound  to  give  credit  in  one  subject  for  the  work 
in  another,  a  way  out  of  the  difficulty  might  be 
found  in  a  rearrangement  of  the  school  year  and 
vacations  in  districts  where  there  is  a  large  per- 
centage of  excused  boys;  or  special  classes  could 
be  devised  for  these  boys  when  they  return  to 
school.    In  the  large  high  schools  shorter  intensive 


248  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

courses  could  be  included  in  the  program  so  that 
the  boy  who  was  preparing  for  college  would  not 
lose  his  work  in  such  subjects  as  English,  history, 
and  mathematics.  In  the  case  of  language  and 
science  there  must  be  a  loss  which  it  is  difficult 
to  repair.  If  the  present  conditions  persist,  admin- 
istrative inigenuity  can  solve  the  question  of  work 
and  credits.  It  is  not  one  of  the  serious  aspects  of 
the  problem,  provided  always  that  there  is  no  release 
of  children  below  the  compulsory-attendance  age. 

In  Massachusetts  the  work  of  mobilizing  school- 
boys for  farm  labor  was  in  charge  of  the  state's 
Committee  on  Public  Safety.  Their  principles  in 
acting  were  as  follows : 

Mobilize  the  schoolboys ;  keep  those  under  1 6  at  home  to 
work  on  home,  school,  and  community  gardens ;  enlist  the 
high-school  boys  between  16  and  18,  too  young  for  military 
or  naval  service,  but  old  enough  to  render  real  service ;  move 
them  where  farm  labor  is  needed  ;  make  them  understand 
that  enlistment  for  farm  service  is  in  all  ways  as  patriotic 
as  any  other  service  for  the  nation's  defense. 

With  the  appointment  of  a  subcommittee  to  for- 
mulate the  detailed  scheme  of  placement  and  su- 
pervision, having  Frank  V.  Thompson,  Assistant 
Superintendent  of  the  Boston  schools,  as  chair- 
man, the  plan  for  the  cooperation  of  schools  with 
agriculture  is,  for  boys   16  and  over,  as  follows: 


FARM  CADETS  249 

1.  {a)  The  farm-labor  service  is  to  be  recognized 
by  a  bronze  badge  containing  the  seal  of  the  com- 
monwealth and  inscribed  "  The  Nation's  Service  "  and 
"  Food  Production."  {b)  An  honorable  discharge, 
similar  to  a  discharge  from  the  army,  containing  the 
signature  of  the  governor,  will  be  issued  to  boys 
who  successfully  complete  their  service  on  farms. 
{c)  Tufts,  Boston  University,  Massachusetts  Insti- 
tute of  Technology,  and  Massachusetts  Agricultural 
College  have  agreed  to  give  a  trial  term  or  year  to 
such  candidates  as  present  an  honorable  discharge, 
without  further  entrance  requirements,  provided 
their  school  work  was  satisfactory  up  to  the  time 
of  leaving  and  the  principal  so  recommends. 

2.  The  existing  school  organization  is  used  to 
conduct  the  enterprise.  For  each  25  boys  enlisted 
a  supervisor  is  appointed,  a  male  teacher  of  strong 
ability  in  the  local  school, — in  towns  where  there 
are  several  supervisors,  either  the  superintendent 
of  schools  or  the  principal  of  the  high  school. 
A  general  head  supervisor  in  charge  of  the  state 
work  has  an  office  in  the  Statehouse.  Each  local 
head  supervisor  and  each  supervisor  of  25  boys 
receives  the  same  sum  (^100),  the  money  being 
obtained  from  a  local  contingent  fund,  from  an 
additional  appropriation,  or  by  subscription. 

3.  The  minimum  wage  of  the  boys  is  fixed  thus: 


250  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

first  week,  no  wages,  but  allowance  of  $2  for  ex- 
penses etc. ;  thereafter  (a)  boy  living  on  farm,  not  less 
than  $4.  a  week  and  board,  {d)  boy  living  at  home, 
not  less  than  ^6  a  week.  Six  days  constitute  a  week. 

4.  The  enlistment  card  and  the  issuance  of 
honorable  discharge  are  controlled  by  the  general 
head  supervisor  (Committee  on  Public  Safety). 

5.  The  enrollment  for  the  period  of  May  i  to 
October  i  is  made  by  the  boy,  with  the  parents' 
consent  and  the  school  physician's  indorsement. 
When  the  boy  is  enlisted,  a  numbered  badge  is 
lent  to  him,  for  which  he  signs  a  receipt ;  it  is 
to  be  returned  in  case  of  unsatisfactory  conduct 
or  service.  He  receives  full  credit  for  the  year's 
school  work. 

6.  Inspection  of  the  physical  and  moral  condi- 
tions of  the  place  of  employment,  the  choosing  of 
the  boys  from  enrollment  lists,  and  seeing  that 
both  boys  and  farmers  are  satisfied,  are  part  of  the 
work  of  the  appointed  supervisors. 

7.  Camps  for  the  boys,  when  local  conditions 
require,  are  established  under  the  direction  of  the 
medical  expert  for  the  State  Board  of  Labor  and 
Industries.  An  expert  on  camps  has  supervision 
of  the  work  of  the  executive  committee  in  stand- 
ardizing and  inspecting  camps  and  obtaining  the 
equipment,  layout,  and  food  supplies. 


FARM  CADETS  251 

With  the  cooperation  of  farm  bureaus  thousands 
of  circulars  and  labor-contract  forms  were  sent  to 
Massachusetts  farmers.  By  June  16,  191 7,  there 
were  camps  established  at  18  points,  and  arrange- 
ments completed  to  employ  500  to  600  boys  from 
these  camps.  In  addition  there  were  at  least  500 
other  boys  released  from  school  to  work  on  home 
farms,  or  living  in  farmers'  homes. 

An  interesting  feature  of  the  Massachusetts 
scheme  was  the  working  out  of  camp  plans  by  the 
drafting  students  in  the  Newton  Technical  High 
School,  with  detailed  equipment  of  dining  tent  with 
wooden-horse  tables ;  sleeping  tent  with  double-deck 
bunk  ;  latrine ;  cook  shack  ;  etc. 

In  its  system  for  handling  the  supply  of  boy 
labor,  the  state  requires  the  farmer  to  sign  a  defi- 
nite application  blank  for  the  amount  of  boy  labor 
which  he  requires.  It  is  understood  that  while 
the  boys  are  enlisted  for  the  entire  period  up  to 
October  i,  the  farmer  may  take  those  boys  for 
long  or  short  periods  of  not  less  than  a  week  in 
duration,  to  begin  or  end  at  any  time,  as  the 
farmer's  necessity  requires.  This  application  made 
by  the  farmer  is  also  an  agreement  to  pay  the 
wages  stipulated  by  the  Committee  on  Public  Safety 
and  also  to  employ  the  boy  on  rainy  as  well  as 
fair  days,  using  his  services  on   rainy  days  under 


252  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

cover  if  possible.  Further  agreement  is  made,  in 
case  the  boy  is  unsatisfactory,  to  give  him  one 
week's  notice  or  one  week's  pay,  providing  him 
with  a  statement  in  writing  of  the  reason  for  his 
discharge.  Whenever,  in  the  opinion  of  the  local 
supervisor,  the  conditions  of  living  or  of  labor  are 
not  satisfactory,  the  boy  may  be  withdrawn  without 
prejudice  to  him.  These  arrangements  insure  that 
there  shall  be  a  cooperative  responsibility  of  farmer 
and  state  in  caring  for  the  boy. 

In  establishing  the  camps  in  Massachusetts  the 
money  to  start  the  work  was  chiefly  supplied  by 
individuals.  In  the  case  of  the  New  Bedford  con- 
tingent in  Coonamesett  camp,  on  an  estate  of 
ii,ooo  acres,  the  boys  were  housed  in  militia  tents, 
lent  by  the  state,  —  two  boys  to  a  tent.  For  their 
tent  furnishings  the  boys  supplied  whatever  they 
needed.  A  mess  house  —  a  rough  board  building 
75  feet  long  by  17  feet  wide,  providing  eating 
quarters  for  the  boys  and  at  one  end  a  cook  room 
—  was  in  part  erected  by  the  New  Bedford  Indus- 
trial School  boys,  working  under  the  direction  of  an 
experienced  carpenter.  The  laying  of  the  2500  feet 
of  pipe  to  carry  water  to  the  camp  was  also  the 
work  of  the  same  school.  The  catering  for  the 
boys  was  under  the  direction  of  an  experienced 
woman  and  two  Japanese  cooks.    In  the  morning 


FARM  CADETS  253 

the  boys  started  for  the  various  farms,  those  at  a 
distance  being  called  for  by  an  auto  truck.  In  this 
camp,  for  an  eight-hour  day  and  a  six-day  week 
each  boy  received  a  maximum  wage  of  ^4  a  week 
and  board,  the  weekly  payment  in  charge  of  the 
supervisor.  The  camp  was  fortunate  in  having  as 
its  directors  the  city  superintendent  of  schools  and 
a  physical  instructor,  the  latter  living  in  the  camp. 

In  New  York  the  placing  of  boys  on  farms  has 
been  the  joint  work  of  the  Food  Supply  Com- 
mission, the  State  Education  Department,  and  the 
State  Military  Training  Commission.  While  younger 
boys  have  been  released  for  agricultural  work  by 
other  agencies,  the  state  placement  by  the  com- 
mission is  concerned  only  with  the  boys  of  military 
training  age — 16  to  19.  One  of  the  first  actions 
of  the  latter  commission  was  to  divide  the  state 
into  6  military-training  zones:  New  York  City  (in- 
cluding Manhattan,  Bronx,  and  Richmond);  Long 
Island,  including  Brooklyn ;  Hudson  Valley,  with 
center  at  Albany ;  East  Central,  at  Syracuse ;  West 
Central,  at  Rochester;  and  Western,  at  Buffalo. 
Next,  a  description  was  obtained  of  the  character 
of  the  work  in  each  zone.  For  example,  the  Hudson 
Valley  Zone  as  far  as  Albany  requires  labor  in 
harvesting  small  fruits  and  general  farm  work, 
while  the  West  Central  Zone  work  is  that  of  muck 


254  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

farming,  large-fruit  farming,  and  general  farming. 
Each  zone  center  has  its  individual  office  through 
which  placements  are  made.  Meetings  were  held 
the  latter  part  of  April  by  zone  supervisors  and 
farm-bureau  managers,  and  attended  by  farmers' 
and  fruit  growers'  associations  who  stated  what 
they  needed  and  what  they  would  contribute  in 
wages  and  housing  for  boy  workers. 

The  inducements  for  enlisting  offered  by  the  state 
to  boys  released  from  school  work  were  the  chevron 
given  by  the  Military  Training  Commission,  to  be 
awarded  after  thirty  days'  satisfactory  work;  the 
military-training-equivalent  value  of  the  service;  and 
the  promise  of  proper  pay  and  care  by  the  employer. 
As  to  credits,  so  important  in  the  New  York 
system,  farm  cadets  were  permitted  to  take  the 
Regents'  examinations  though  the  course  lacked  a 
few  weeks  of  completion,  the  time  requirement  be- 
ing waived  in  their  case.  Any  pupil  in  the  schools 
of  the  state  who  enlisted  for  military  service 
(this  applied  to  the  colleges)  or  who  rendered 
satisfactory  agricultural  service  was  credited  with 
the  work  of  the  term  without  examination,  on  the 
certificate  of  the  school  that  his  work  up  to  the 
time  of  enlistment  was  satisfactory. 

New  York  is  an  agricultural  state,  with  a  great 
variety    of    kinds    of    farming   and   many   districts 


FARM  CADETS 


255 


remote  from  centers  of  the  supply  of  labor.  The 
agricultural  census,  to  which  reference  was  made 
in  Chapter  II,  supplied  data  for  determining  the 
districts  where  and  when  labor  was  most  needed 
and  where  schoolboys  could  be  most  useful.  For 
example,  in  Orleans  County,  in  the  Western  Zone, 
the  demand  varied  from  163  laborers  needed  early 
in  May  to  1521  needed  in  October,  an  indication 
that  there  was  really  more  reason  for  excusing  boys 
in  October  than  in  May  for  work  in  peach-  and 
apple-harvesting  districts.-^  Conspicuous  among  the 
types  of  New  York  farms  where  labor  was  sought 
were  the  great  fruit  farms,  such  as  the  Sodus  Fruit 
Farm,  with  a  house  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Ontario 
able  to  accommodate  100  boys,  where  it  was  planned 
to  harvest  the  entire  peach  and  apple  crop  with 
schoolboy  labor;  the  vast  tracts  owned  by  the 
canning    companies,   with    thousands    of    acres    of 


1  The  following  statistics  for  Orleans  County  show  how  agricultural 
help  is  needed,  as  indicated  by  the  census  taken  by  school  children  : 


May  10-20 163  Aug.  21-31 

May  21-31 165  Sept.  i-io 

June  i-io 227  Sept.  11-20 

June  11-20 257  Sept.  21-30 

June  21-30 271  Oct.  I-IO    . 

July  i-io 518  Oct.  11-20  . 

July  11-20 526  Oct.  21-30  . 

July  21-31 523  Nov.  I-IO   . 

Aug.  i-io 486  Nov.  11-20 

Aug.  11-20 554  Nov.  20-30 


573 
1157 
1308 

1317 

1521 

1500 

143s 

38 

13 

I 


256  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

tomatoes,  beans,  and  corn  under  cultivation;  and 
the  farms  such  as  those  in  the  South  Lima  district, 
where  there  was  muck  farming  and  where  the 
work  included  the  cultivating,  sorting,  and  pack- 
ing of  onions,  lettuce,  celery,  and  spinach.  Calls 
were  sometimes  made  upon  the  state  for  as  many 
as  1500  boys  to  assist  in  harvesting.  It  was  there- 
fore necessary  for  the  state  to  work  on  a  large 
and  definitely  planned  scale. 

Naturally  the  first  boys  to  be  placed  were  those 
residing  in  or  near  farming  districts.  When,  how- 
ever, the  supply  of  these  boys  was  exhausted,  the 
call  came,  even  from  remote  districts,  for  city  boys. 
In  these  cases  the  problem  of  transportation  be- 
comes serious,  as  well  as  the  housing  and  care  of 
the  boy  in  the  new  environment,  where  association 
with  other  help  is  apt  to  be  harmful. 

The  following  description  of  a  New  York  State 
camp  is  offered  not  only  because  it  has  proved  to 
be  highly  successful  but  also  because  it  affords 
an  excellent  illustration  of  the  "  farm-working,  or 
labor-distributing,  camp,"  which  is  defined  in  the 
chapter  following. 

It  was  called  The  Erasmus  Hall  High  School 
(New  York  City)  Potato  Growers'  Association,  and 
was  organized  by  F.  A.  Rexford,  a  teacher  who  is 
much  interested  in  agriculture  and  in  boys. 


Working  and  living  in  the  berry  fields.    One  of  twenty-five  camps  in  the 
Highlands  of  New  York  State 


Agriculture  on  a  Western  basis  brings  lessons  in  organization,  cooperation, 

and  economy  to  Eastern  boys.    City  boys  working  on  a  large  farm  near 

Phoenixville,  Pennsylvania 


Employing  able-bodied  bu).>  wi  >.ii\   liigh  schools  for  farm  production  may 

become  permanent.    It  may  lead  to  the  development  of  country  annexes  to 

our  city  schools.    Camp  near  Phoenixville,  Pennsylvania 


FARM  CADETS  257 

The  object  of  the  association,  which  was  formed 
in  the  school,  was  originally  fourfold:  (i)  to  teach 
the  farmer  that  the  alert  city  boy  can  and  will 
perform  agricultural  tasks;  (2)  to  increase  the  food 
supply;  (3)  to  relieve  the  help  situation  by  organ- 
izing a  group  of  boys  to  work  by  the  hour  or 
day,  and  to  recruit  boys  to  work  by  the  month 
for  individual  farmers  under  supervision;  (4)  to  fit 
boys  for  military  service  if  needed. 

Ten  boys  from  the  school  left  New  York  on 
May  5,  each  armed  with  the  money  necessary  to 
pay  such  expenses  as  carfare,  food,  laundry,  rent  of 
an  acre  of  land,  seed  potatoes,  phosphate,  team  hire, 
and  spraying  materials.  They  went  to  Mr.  Rexford's 
farm,  located  up-state.  The  New  York  Tribune  con- 
tributed some  money,  and  one  of  the  teachers  in 
the  school  advanced  ^60  for  the  boys  to  grow 
potatoes  for  him.  Some  frail  boys,  whose  parents 
wanted  them  to  go  for  their  health,  were  refused. 

At  first  the  farmers  were  skeptical.  The  boys, 
however,  went  to  work  on  the  land  which  they 
had  rented  from  Rexford.  In  a  week  they  began 
to  attract  attention  and  farmers  began  to  hire 
them.  Rexford  knew  some  of  these  farmers  by 
reputation.  He  believed  that  men  who  cannot 
keep  their  own  boys  at  home  cannot  succeed  with 
boys  from  the  city.    He  was  in  the  habit  of  having 


258  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

a  straight  talk  with  the  employing  farmers,  telling 
them  that  the  boys  must  be  treated  squarely. 

A  large  milk-distributing  corporation  offered  to 
take  eveiy  one  of  his  boys,  but  he  argued  that  it 
could  afford  to  hire  men  and  did  not  need  boys, 
as  did  the  farmers  who  could  not  obtain  other  help. 
It  is  evident  that  large  farmers  have  capital  and 
backing,  while  it  is  the  individual  farmer  struggling 
with  hard  conditions  who  must  have  help. 

Most  of  the  boys  who  are  with  farmers  by  the 
month  come  back  to  the  main  camp  every  Sunday 
morning  for  physical  examination,  general  assem- 
bly, and  to  go  to  church.  This  coming  back  to  the 
camp  keeps  before  them  the  idea  of  a  camp  for 
farm  cadets.  They  return  to  their  work  Sunday 
night.  For  those  boys  who  go  out  by  the  week 
the  teacher  makes  an  arrangement  whereby  the 
farmer  brings  them  back  to  the  camp  on  Saturday 
night  and  comes  for  them  the  following  night. 

The  people  in  the  community  in  which  the  camp 
is  located  have  established  a  nonsectarian  church 
in  an  old  cheese  factory  which  has  been  purchased 
for  $200.  Occasionally  a  minister  from  a  near-by 
town  comes  and  speaks. 

The  camp  has  a  professional  cook,  who  was 
obtained  from  a  college  fraternity,  and  the  boys 
pay  pro  rata.    The  first  expense  was  about  $2.50 


FARM  CADETS  259 

a  week  for  each  boy,  but  prosperity  has  provided 
means  for  the  boys  to  spend  more. 

All  vegetables  which  the  boys  raised  and  which 
they  did  not  use  on  the  table  were  canned  by 
the  cook  and  Mrs.  Rexford,  and  they  will  be  used 
in  the  early  part  of  next  year,  before  the  fresh 
vegetables    are    available. 

Local  store  men  have  cooperated  in  giving  the 
lowest  prices,  feeling  that  otherwise  the  trade  of  the 
camp  would  go  to  the  city,  and  therefore  choosing 
the  opportunity  of  large  business  with  aggregate 
large  receipts  on  small  profit. 

Breakfast  consists  of  fruit,  cereal  or  eggs,  and 
milk,  cocoa,  or  postum,  and  sometimes  corn  bread 
or  griddle  cakes.  The  boys  carry  a  cold  lunch 
with  them,  consisting  of  a  pail  of  cold  cocoa; 
four  good  thick  sandwiches  of  peanut  butter,  meat, 
or  jam ;  a  piece  of  frosted  cake ;  and  a  banana. 
Sometimes  they  take  a  pot  of  jam,  which  is  dis- 
posed of  by  the  group.  For  dinner  they  have  a  roast 
or  steak;  potatoes  and  other  ordinary  vegetables 
(beans,  peas,  lettuce,  carrots);  shortcake  or  pie  or 
pudding;    cocoa,  postum,  or  milk. 

The  boys  take  care  of  their  own  beds,  wash 
the  dishes,  and  keep  the  place  clean. 

They  have  a  study  hour  every  evening  from 
eight  until  nine,  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  boys 


26o  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

placed  out  with  farmers.  One  boy,  going  to 
Princeton  in  the  fall,  kept  up  his  studies  and  took 
the  Regents'  examinations  at  the  country  school, 
passing  them  with  as  good  a  mark  as  he  would 
have  obtained  at  his  home  school. 

After  drill  on  Sunday  morning  the  boys  at 
camp  have  a  baseball  game.  They  have  had 
entertainments  for  the  benefit  of  the  Red  Cross. 
In  the  group  at  camp  are  the  gold-medal  orator 
of  the  school,  two  excellent  pianists,  four  man- 
dolin players,  and  a  whistler.  All  the  boys  are 
good  singers. 

Rexford's  application  blank  asked  for  the  weight, 
age,  previous  experience  in  farming,  church  pref- 
erence, and  habits  as  to  smoking. 

The  teacher  had  the  cooperation  of  the  farm 
bureau.  The  farmers  wrote  to  the  bureau  for  help ; 
Mr.  Rexford  and  the  farm-bureau  manager  went 
to  each  farmer,  looked  over  the  situation,  and  if 
everything  was  satisfactory,  furnished  the  workers. 
Mr.  Rexford  will  not  leave  boys  on  any  farm 
without  proper  supervision.  He  visits  the  boys 
once  every  week,  neither  the  farmer  nor  the  boy 
knowing  when  he  is  coming. 

At  first  no  wage  scale  was  set,  the  arrange- 
ment being  that  the  farmer  should  pay  what  the 
boy  was  worth.    If  he  was  worth  nothing,  then  it 


FARM  CADETS  261 

was  all  right,  and  the  boy  ought  to  be  the  first  one 
to  know  it.  However,  most  of  the  boys  started 
at  20  cents  an  hour;  soon  this  was  raised  to  25 
cents,  and  now  the  pay  is  30  cents. 

Most  of  the  farmers  in  the  vicinity  had  never 
done  any  spraying.  They  now  apply  to  Mr.  Rexford 
when  they  want  such  work  done  and  he  sends  out 
two  boys  and  horses  and  his  own  spraying  outfit. 
The  work  is  done  at  a  cost  to  the  farmer  of 
about  70  cents  per  acre  for  spraying  potatoes,  in 
addition  to  the  material;  that  is,  25  cents  per  acre 
for  each  boy's  work  and  20  cents  expense  on  the 
spraying  outfit,  for  nozzles  etc. 

There  was  no  illness  among  the  boys  during  the 
summer,  not  even  colds.  Sometimes  the  boys  got 
wet  through,  but  came  home,  took  a  dip  in  a  hole 
in  the  creek,  and  followed  it  by  a  good  rub. 

Meanwhile  quite  a  number  of  New  York  City 
men  teachers  under  the  leadership  of  two  camp 
supervisors,  H.  W.  Millspaugh  and  H.  J,  McCreary 
and  acting  under  the  authority  of  the  Board  of 
Education,  started  out  "to  sell  something  they  did 
not  have  to  somebody  who  did  not  want  it."  But 
these  men  had  the  courage  of  their  convictions 
and  the  results  of  their  work  (over  twenty  camps 
in  two  counties)  give  ample  evidence  of  the  success 
of  their  venture. 


262  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

Imagine  the  surprise  of  the  fruit  growers  of  the 
counties  named  when  they  received  the  following 
circular  letter: 

It  is  proposed  to  bring  a  large  number  of  boys  from  the 
high  schools  of  New  York  City  to  pick  fruit  in  the  fruit 
belt  of  Orange  and  Ulster  counties.  In  carrying  out  this 
plan  it  will  be  necessary  to  have  the  full  cooperation  of 
fruit  growers,  school  authorities,  parents,  health  authorities, 
and  others.  The  part  of  the  fruit  grower  will  be  roughly 
as  follows : 

He  will  provide  housing  facilities,  stove,  fuel,  refrigera- 
tion, either  by  ice  box,  cellar,  or  spring,  convenient  water 
supply,  toilet  facilities  satisfactory  to  the  board  of  health, 
straw  for  mattresses,  cooking  utensils,  working  conditions  that 
will  enable  the  average  boy  to  earn  a  respectable  wage,  and 
a  sympathetic  attitude  toward  the  comfort  and  health  of  the 
boys. 

Each  boy  will  provide  his  carfare  to  and  from  the  fruit 
section,  provide  his  own  knife,  fork,  cup,  plate,  spoon,  wash 
basin,  tick  for  mattress,  pillow,  blankets,  etc.,  and  pay  for 
his  food  and  cooking.  Boys  will  mess  in  groups  of  12  to 
25  or  even  more.  Each  group  will  have  a  capable  boy  cook 
and  in  camps  of  over  20,  two  boys.  The  first  boy  will  re- 
ceive $4  a  week  besides  his  meals,  the  second  boy  $2.50  a 
week  and  may  earn  some  more  by  picking  fruit.  A  teacher 
supervisor  will  supervise  one  large  or  two  or  three  small 
camps  and  advise  as  to  preparation  of  food,  buy  supplies, 
and  act  as  camp  director. 

Regarding  cooking  outfit  to  be  supplied  by  the  fruit 
grower,  it  may  be  said  that  all  except  stove  and  ice  box  can 


FARM  CADETS  263 

be  purchased  new  for  about  ^10.  It  is  desirable  that  these 
be  ordered  by  the  camp  director,  who  will  judge  the  size  and 
kind  and  take  advantage  of  wholesale  rates.  An  oil  stove 
and  oven  is  recommended  unless  a  suitable  stove  is  on  hand. 
Inexperienced  boy  cooks  cannot  be  expected  to  satisfy  a 
score  or  more  of  hungry  boys  with  equipment  discarded  by 
the  skilled  housewife. 

It  is  further  understood  that  these  boys  will  not  work  on 
Sunday  nor  will  they  be  located  on  farms  where  farm  help 
is  not  treated  with  consideration. 

An  illustration  of  a  "concentration  and  training 
camp  "  is  that  established  by  the  state  of  Maine. 
This  state,  in  cooperation  with  the  state  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  developed  a  state 
camp  for  the  purpose  of  enlisting  and  training 
boys  and  young  men  to  supply  the  extra  demand 
for  farm  labor  made  necessary  through  the  in- 
creased-acreage  propaganda.  The  boys  were  or- 
ganized under  the  title  of  "The  Junior  Volunteers 
of  Maine."  They  were  virtually  farm  soldiers  of 
the  state,  and  were  sworn  to  obey  all  rules  of  the 
camp  before  and  after  leaving  it  for  the  farms  on 
which  they  were  placed. 

The  boys  are  sent  out  in  squads  to  work  in 
different  sections  of  the  state,  as  opportunity  may 
offer,  under  the  direction  of  competent  adult  leaders. 
These  leaders  have  full  charge  of  the  boys  until 
they  return  to  the  mobilization  camp. 


264  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

When  a  boy  comes  to  the  camp  he  is  examined 
for  his  moral  and  physical  qualifications,  and  then 
is  assigned  to  a  company  and  to  a  tent.  The 
adjutant  general  provides  necessary  tents,  uniforms, 
and  camp  utensils.  The  boy  is  instructed  with 
others  in  the  squad  how  to  pitch  a  tent  and  pack 
camp  utensils,  and  he  is  also  given  lessons  in 
sanitation  and  the  elements  of  military  drill.  He 
has  a  lecture  every  day  given  by  a  professor  of 
the  state  agricultural  college.  He  also  works  on 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  farm,  which  is  being  used  for  this 
purpose,  and  is  taught  the  use  of  machinery,  and 
how  to  manage  and  care  for  horses,  sharpen  tools, 
and  milk  cows. 

It  is  not  claimed  that  a  week  of  this  sort  of 
training  makes  the  boy  a  finished  farmer,  but  it 
does  go  a  long  way  in  that  preliminary  educa- 
tion so  essential  to  farm-mindedness.  By  the  time 
the  boy  gets  to  the  farmer  he  is  in  excellent 
shape  to  understand  the  orders  of  his  employer. 
In  the  words  of  the  director  of  the  camp,  "  He  is 
ready  to  begin  actual  service  as  a  trained  novice." 

Before  the  boy  is  admitted  to  the  camp  a 
searching  examination  is  made  into  his  character 
and  antecedents,  and  some  responsible  person 
must  answer  certain  confidential  questions  relative 
to  the  boy's  physical,  mental,  and  social  habits. 


FARM  CADETS  265 

After  the  boy  is  admitted  to  the  camp  he  takes 
an  oath  in  which  he  states  that  he  will  serve  as 
a  junior  volunteer  for  farm  service  in  Maine  until 
the  last  day  of  October,  unless  sooner  released  by 
the  governor  of  the  state  of  Maine. 

A  charge  is  made  on  the  farmer  of  ^i  a  day  for 
each  of  the  six  working  days,  and  it  is  expected 
that  if  the  boys  show  themselves  worthy  of  more, 
the  farmer  will  recognize  this  and  make  a  satis- 
factory adjustment  with  the  leader.  In  addition 
to  the  minimum  charge  of  $1  a  day  the  farmer 
is  required  to  furnish  board.  As  a  rule,  however, 
the  boys  sleep  in  near-by  tents  with  their  leaders. 
The  farmer  is  not  required  to  pay  transportation 
or  other  charges. 

The  farmer's  agreement  is  with  the  state  and  not 
with  the  boy,  as  the  scheme  works  on  the  basis  that 
the  young  men  have  been  engaged  by  the  state  for 
farm  service  and  as  employees  of  the  state  receive 
their  pay  through  the  regular  state  channels. 

On  the  first  of  July  more  than  450  boys  had  been 
trained  and  sent  out  to  various  points  in  the  state. 

The   following    letter   from    the    director-general 

of  the  camp  gives  in  a  word  his  experience  with 

these  boys: 

We  feel  that  this  movement  can  be  justified  from  any 
one  of  a  half-dozen  standpoints.    We  are  taking  city  boys 


266  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

and  in  a  few  weeks  giving  them  a  few  carefully  selected 
fundamental  principles  relating  to  practical  farm  activities, 
which  has  enabled  them  to  go  out  to  the  farms  under  our 
leaders  and  give  satisfaction.  We  have  not  had  a  single 
complete  failure  yet.  Only  3  boys  out  of  600  employed 
for  the  season  have  been  changed  because  they  could  not 
fill  the  requirements.  The  way  these  city  boys  have  taken 
hold  of  farm  work  has  been  wonderfully  gratifying.  In 
connection  with  this  training,  we  are  conducting  our  camp 
along  lines  similar  to  camps  of  National  Guardsmen.  The 
whole  organization  is  nearly  identical  with  the  regular  army 
camps.  While  the  training  is  not  so  extensive,  the  boys 
are  given  the  fundamentals  in  correct  form.  The  spirit 
and  general  training  at  the  camp  will  be  of  great  value  if 
any  of  these  boys  are  ever  called  into  the  service. 

Another  important  possibility,  and  from  my  experience 
with  city  boys,  a  probability,  is  that  some  of  these  boys  will 
become  sufficiently  interested  in  agriculture  to  choose  it  as 
a  vocation,  while  others  will  choose  it  later  in  life  as  an 
avocation,  because  of  this  experience. 

Another  mobilization  camp  of  the  "  labor-distri- 
bution "  type,  with  some  training  features,  was  that 
of  the  Long  Island  Food  Reserve  Battalion.  This 
organization  was  initiated  by  the  Nassau  County 
Y.M.C.A.  and  supported  financially  and  morally 
by  the  Long  Island  Railroad,  the  state  agricultu- 
ral school  at  Farmingdale,  and  by  local  residents. 
A  detailed  description  is  unnecessary.  There  were 
6   camps    under   this    organization    scattered    over 


FARM  CADETS  267 

the  island,  in  each  camp  48  boys  under  a  supervi- 
sor, a  miUtary  instructor,  and  squad  leaders  (i  squad 
leader  to  approximately  every  7  boys).  The  last 
camp  was  developed  at  the  state  school  of  agri- 
culture with  a  group  of  96  boys  working  in  two 
shifts,  one  beginning  at  6  a.m.  and  stopping  at 
12  noon;  the  other  beginning  at  12  noon  and  stop- 
ping at  6  P.M.  A  regular  course  of  agricultural 
instruction  was  carried  on  at  all  the  camps.  Lec- 
tures have  been  given  in  entomology,  farm  chemis- 
try, and  marketing.  During  the  first  month  of  the 
first  camp  it  was  difficult  to  place  the  boys.  The 
idea  was  not  well  received  by  the  farmers,  who 
claimed  that  the  presence  of  boys  would  ''  demor- 
alize "  their  regular  help,  and  that  the  boys  would 
not  recognize  the  different  vegetables  and  would 
hoe  out  corn  as  quickly  as  they  would  pigweed. 
(One  boy  in  a  New  York  State  camp  did  carefully 
hoe  out  and  pull  up  every  corn  plant  for  a  half-day, 
leaving  weeds.) 

During  the  height  of  the  season  these  same 
farmers  were  driving  to  the  camps  and  offering  from 
^2  to  ^2.50  a  day  for  the  same  boys  that  they  had 
laughed  at  hiring  for  ^1.25  a  day  at  the  beginning 
of  the  installation  of  the  camps. 

The  "  flying-squadron  "  idea  is  unique.  An  auto 
truck,  with  a  trailer   for   tentage   and   supplies,  is 


268  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

always  ready  to  respond  with  its  load  of  boys  to  an 
emergency  call  to  save  some  particular  crop.  The 
group  composing  this  squadron  is  made  up  of 
"  hand-picked  "  boys  who  are  qualifying  for  squad- 
leader  positions. 

An  example  of  a  camp  which  was  conducted  in 
such  a  manner  that  the  boys  lost  the  minimum  of 
school  work  is  that  of  the  Bushwick  (Brooklyn, 
New  York),  High  School  "  Camp  Squire "  near 
Hicksville,  Long  Island.  The  organization  of  this 
camp  is  interesting,  not  so  much  because  it  was 
established  with  the  purpose  of  making  it  self- 
supporting,  but  rather  because  it  provided  definite 
opportunities  for  continuing  with  school  studies. 
The  initial  amount  of  about  ^175  was  subscribed 
by  teachers,  and  the  tent  and  mess  house,  intended 
formerly  for  harvesters,  was  lent  by  the  farmer  on 
whose  grounds  the  camp  was  placed.  The  leader 
of  this  camp,  a  teacher  in  the  same  school  from 
which  the  boys  were  recruited,  planned,  after  the 
schools  opened  in  September,  a  day  of  work  and 
study,  coaching  the  boys  in  their  school  subjects, 
so  that  with  at  least  three  hours  of  study  per  day 
the  boys  were  enabled  to  keep  up  with  their 
classes  while  at  work  harvesting  until  the  middle 
of  October.  In  this,  as  in  other  successful  camps, 
the  boys  formed  a  unit  organization  before  going 


FARM  CADETS  269 

to  camp,  and  had  the  advantage  of  a  sympathetic 
instructor  of  academic  and  agricultural  experience 
to  enforce  voluntary  school  discipline.  The  boys 
were  paid  20  to  25  cents  an  hour,  working  for 
neighboring  farmers  from  7  a.m.  to  3  p.m.  The 
rest  of  the  day  was  divided  into  silent  study,  con- 
sultation, and  recreation  hours.  It  is  expected  that 
this  camp,  which  will  doubtless  be  permanent,  will 
become  self-supporting  in  its  second  or  third  year 
and  the  initial  outlay  will  be  returned. 

The  farm-camp  idea  is  here  to  stay.  Of  that  we 
are  sure.  The  purely  recreational  camp  is  a  thing 
of  the  past.  The  days  of  the  purely  work  camp  of 
ten  to  twelve  hours  a  day  ought  to  be  over.  Work, 
play,  and  study  in  the  future  will  be  brought  to- 
gether in  the  summer  time  as  effectively  as  during 
the  so-called  "regular"  season.  Next  year,  and  in 
the  years  after,  we  shall  organize  this  work  around 
some  educational  ideal  and  not  merely  around  a 
necessity  for  food-production.  The  two  are  by  no 
means  incompatible. 

This  year  we  have  learned  "  how  not  to  do  it," 
as  one  camp  leader  put  it.  In  some  instances  the 
boys  went  home  with  less  money  than  they  had 
at  the  start.  In  brief  they  paid  the  farmer  for  the 
privilege  of  picking  berries.  Particularly  in  berry 
picking  there  was  much  piece  work,  and  such  may 


270  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

carry  with  it  nearly  all  the  evils  that  it  does  in  the 
factory.  Mr.  Keller,  a  thoughtful  leader  of  a  New 
York  camp,  says  in  this  connection:  "Judging  the 
fair  wage  from  the  earnings  of  the  expert  is  mani- 
festly unfair.  It  means  that  the  average  boy  must 
be  speeded  up  beyond  his  point  of  endurance,  or 
that  he  must  receive  less  than  a  living  wage.  The 
possibilities  of  speeding  up  are  limited,  and  so 
the  alternative  is  longer  hours." 

Furthermore  it  is  necessary  for  the  government, 
state  or  national,  to  take  a  hand  in  the  distribu- 
tion and  the  sale  of  farm  products.  It  made  me 
sick  at  heart,  on  a  trip  of  inspection  to  25  camps, 
to  see  hundreds  of  boys  at  work  picking  berries 
under  the  hot  sun  in  a  service  supposedly  patriotic, 
and  then  to  see  the  same  berries,  which  had  been 
sold  by  the  growers  at  a  price  not  much  above  that 
of  other  years,  resold  to  the  consumer  at  double 
the.  price  of  other  years,  —  and  always  with  the 
remark :  "  You  know  labor  is  scarce  this  year,  and 
the  farmers  cannot  get  help."  The  result  of  it  all 
has  been  that  the  consumer,  for  whom  the  work 
was  done,  has  been  disregarded. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  social  reconstruction, 
education,  food  production,  and  conservation  only 
the  surface  has  been  scratched.  The  state  must  take 
the  initiative,   assuring   the  consumer  a  moderate 


FARM  CADETS  271 

price  for  the  product,  and  the  farmer,  the  dealer, 
and  the  boy  a  fair  return  for  their  service. 

The  boy  is  not  merely  a  labor  unit  in  the  conser- 
vation of  food.  He  is  the  essential  feature  of  an 
educational  program.  The  experience  of  the  past 
summer  proves  that  with  centralization,  organiza- 
tion, and  an  educational  vision  as  fundamental  sub- 
divisions of  a  far-sighted  state  policy  the  placing 
of  boy  labor  on  farms  could  become  a  valuable  and 
permanent  by-product  of  the  war. 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  A  CADET  CAMP 

In  organizing  camps  for  supplying  cadet  labor 
it  is  well  to  keep  in  mind  that  they  are  to  be  estab- 
lished on  the  basis  of  a  business  proposition ;  that 
they  are  not  primarily  play  camps  or  recreational 
camps ;  that  they  are  not  to  be  located  on  a  river 
or  lake  because  there  happens  to  be  a  good  place 
for  boys  to  swim,  if  there  are  not  paying  jobs  near 
that  river  or  lake  on  which  the  boys  may  work ; 
that  they  are  not  to  be  established  at  random  with- 
out reference  to  the  continuity  of  work  during 
the  season,  or  without  any  real  knowledge  of  the 
local  demand  for  labor. 

Out  of  considerable  experience  during  the  past 
year  it  has  been  discovered  that  there  are  three 
great  elements:  first,  the  boy;  second,  the  farmer; 
and  third,  the  job.  In  addition  there  are  the  ele- 
ments of  leadership,  of  housing,  and  of  cooking. 
Of  course  there  must  also  be  considered  the  ele- 
ments of  recreation,  religious  observances,  and  the 
general  social  life  of  the  camp. 

With   reference   to   the  boy  it  would  seem  that 

he  ought  to  be  one  of  a  group  which  belongs  to 

272 


ORGANIZATION  OF  A  CADET  CAMP     273 

a  public-school  system,  or  to  an  institution,  or  to 
some  society  or  organization  which  is  ready  to  coop- 
erate in  placing  him  in  a  farm  camp.  We  are 
hardly  prepared  as  yet  to  take  individual  boys, 
unassociated  with  any  organization,  and  bring  them 
together  in  a  camp  where  the  lack  of  unity  will 
give  the  leader  little  hold.  A  number  of  boys 
from  New  York  City  were  picked  up  at  random 
and  sent  out  to  a  distant  place  up-state  under  the 
direction  of  a  leader  who  had  never  seen  them 
before.  The  boys  had  not  met  one  another  until 
they  were  put  on  a  train  in  New  York.  Not 
coming  from  any  single  school  or  organization, 
they  felt  no  particular  responsibility  to  anyone.  All 
they  knew  about  the  proposition  was  that  they 
were  to  go  to  a  certain  place,  where  they  would 
be  met  by  someone  who  was  to  conduct  them  to  a 
camp.  They  were  undisciplined  and  later  proved  to 
be  unmanageable.  At  the  very  start  the  plan  lacked 
that  coordinating  influence  which  would  have  ex- 
isted if  the  leader  had  been  a  teacher  in  a  school 
from  which  these  boys  had  come  as  one  group,  or 
if  a  Y.M.C.  A.  boys'  secretary  had  organized  a  group 
from  his  association.  Of  course,  some  day  a  way 
may  be  found  to  bring  together  a  group  of  boys 
independent  of  previous  association  and  place  them 
in  a  new  environment  in  about  the  same  way  that 


274  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

adult  labor  is  gathered  up  in  the  streets  of  New 
York  and  shipped  by  employment  agencies  to  some 
distant  point.  But  boys  are  not  men.  The  re- 
sponsibility of  sending  a  more  or  less  irresponsible 
youth  to  a  distant  point  by  the  same  methods  that 
are  used  by  employment  agencies  in  sending  men 
is  too  great  for  any  state  or  community  to  undertake. 

It  is  generally  understood  that  the  best  boys  for 
farm  work  are  those  who  are  over  i6  years  of  age. 
This  is  true,  of  course,  of  boys  who  engage  in 
general  farm  work,  such  as  plowing,  milking,  horse 
cultivating,  haying,  and  harvesting  grains  and  pota- 
toes. Many  such  boys  were  placed  in  the  dairying 
and  general-farming  regions  of  New  York  State. 
These  boys,  in  most  cases,  lived  with  the  individual 
farmer  and  were  paid  by  the  month.  But  it  has 
been  found  from  experience  that  the  14-year-old  boy 
is  often  better  adapted  to  certain  types  of  farm  work 
than  is  the  older  boy.  For  example,  the  young  boy, 
with  his  adolescent  enthusiasm,  his  nimbler  fingers, 
and  his  general  physical  alertness,  is  more  desirable 
for  picking  small  fruits,  such  as  strawberries,  cur- 
rants, raspberries,  blackberries,  gooseberries,  and 
cherries.  The  14-year-old  boy  must,  however,  work 
Oil  a  different  basis  from  the  one  who  is  over  16. 

It  is  necessary  for  the  boys  to  pass  a  physical 
examination,  because  no  state  authorities  care  to 


ORGANIZATION  OF  A  CADET  CAMP     275 

assume  the  responsibility  of  taking  the  physically 
unfit.  It  is  taken  for  granted  that  the  boy  is  to 
fit  into  the  organization  of  the  camp  as  a  business 
proposition  and  that  he  is  to  stick  to  his  work, 
pay  his  share  of  the  cost  of  the  food  and  its 
preparation,  respond  to  leadership,  and  in  every 
way  do  his  part  toward  promoting  the  general 
efficiency  of  the  camp. 

The  enlistment  blank  used  by  the  New  York 
State  Military  Training  Commission  is  shown  on 
page  276. 

The  farmer  is  as  important  an  element  as  the 
boy ;  yes,  even  more  important,  for  the  boy  gradu- 
ally loses  his  individuality  in  the  camp  conscience. 
The  individual  farmer  remains  an  individual.  He 
has  his  notions  of  what  boys  can  do ;  he  compares 
the  work  of  the  inexperienced  boy  with  the  adult 
foreign  labor  which  he  has  previously  employed. 
The  latter  has,  until  very  recently,  been  available. 
Women  with  their  children  came  to  his  farm  and 
picked  the  small  fruits  without  much  regard  to  the 
length  of  the  day's  work  or  to  living  conditions,  and, 
of  course,  without  any  reference  to  the  social  life 
of  the  community.  This  labor  went  out  as  it  came 
in.  If  it  did  not  like  the  job  because  the  pay 
was  insufficient,  it  demanded  higher  wages  and  got 
them  or  left  the  job  and  moved  on  to  the  next  one. 


276  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 


NEW  YORK  STATE  MILITARY  TRAINING  COMMISSION 

BUREAU  OF  VOCATIONAL  TRAINING 

ENLISTMENT  AS  FARM  CADET 

Name 

Residence Street 

Age yr.     Height ft. in.    Weight lb. 

Place  of  enlistment 

(Name  of  institution,  club,  or  association) 


I  desire  to  enlist  for  farm  work 
and  will  report  for  service : 


Kind  of  work  desired ;  as 
picking  fruit,  vegetable  gar- 
dening, general  farming,  etc. 


From  mo day_to  mo day_ 

From  mo day_to  mo day_ 


Can  you  drive  a  team? Can  you  milk?_ 

Can  you  drive  an  automobile? 


State  briefly  any  other  farm  experience  you  have  had. 

I  have  examined  the  applicant  and  do  assert  that  he  is  physically 
fit  to  do  farm  work. 


(Physician's  signature) 


I  permit to  enlist  for  farm  work  as 

stated  above 

(Parent  or  guardian) 


It  did  not  mind  shacks  which  lodged  vermin.  It 
was  not  particular  about  sanitary  conveniences;  it 
was  not  particular  about  anything  except  wages. 
In  shifting  from  adult  foreign  labor  to  boy  labor, 


ORGANIZATION  OF  A  CADET  CAMP     277 

the  farmer  was  obliged  to  readjust  his  mental  atti- 
tude. Not  only  that,  but  he  often  had  to  readjust 
the  physical,  economic,  and  social  conditions  on 
his  farm. 

In  April,  at  the  time  the  New  York  agricultural 
census  was  taken,  the  farmer  said  that  he  needed 
labor.  He  even  said  he  would  take  boy  labor,  but 
when  it  came  actually  to  engaging  such  labor,  he 
was  inclined  to  ridicule  the  idea.  Untrained  city 
boys  were  not  in  great  demand  in  May,  but  when 
the  foreign  labor  did  not  appear  on  the  scene  and 
strawberries  were  ripening  on  the  vines,  the  farmer 
suddenly  discovered  that  he  could  use  the  untrained 
city  boy.  But  he  had  expected  the  boys  not  only 
to  work  as  many  hours  but  also  to  pick  as  care- 
fully and  as  much  as  adults.  He  expected  the  boys 
to  work  at  the  same  price  as  had  foreigners  for 
years  past,  regardless  of  the  advance  in  price  of 
food  and  the  standards  of  living.  Of  course  he  was 
disappointed,  and  this  is  where  the  leader  of  the 
camp,  through  his  authority,  represents  the  inter- 
ests of  the  boys  and  the  newer  conditions  of  farm 
labor  which  have  come  out  of  the  employment 
of  boys. 

An  instance  of  what  happened  in  Highland, 
New  York,  will  illustrate  the  power  of  leadership 
on  the  part  of  a  camp  leader  and  the  cooperative 


278  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

instinct  of  a  group  of  city  boys  who  have  consid- 
erable famiharity  with  the  principles  of  strikes, 
lockouts,  picket  duty,  and  street-corner  oratory. 
The  boys  were  being  paid  one  and  one-half  cents 
a  quart  for  currant  picking.  In  years  past  this 
had  been  the  usual  rate.  They  could,  on  the  aver- 
age, pick  about  40  quarts  a  day,  which  brought 
them  $3.60  a  week,  assuming  that  they  worked 
for  six  days  in  the  week  and  there  was  no  rain 
or  other  interruptions.  Meanwhile  each  boy's  pro- 
portion of  the  board  at  camp  amounted  to  about 
$3.50  a  week.  At  this  point  a  combination  of 
training  in  school  debating,  listening  to  speeches 
of  industrial  disturbers,  and  a  knowledge  of  trade- 
union  methods  came  into  play,  for  these  boys 
gathered  together  and  determined  to  demand  two 
cents  a  quart.  They  held  a  meeting  and  voted  to 
strike  for  two  cents.  They  marched  around  the 
berry-storage  houses,  each  wearing  an  empty  berry 
basket  as  a  cap,  on  which  was  marked  "  two  cents  " 
and  which  was  decorated  more  or  less  artistically 
with  bunches  of  currants.  A  meeting  of  all  farmers 
of  the  district  was  called  by  the  general  camp 
supervisor  of  the  district.  The  boys  had  presented 
their  arguments  to  the  individual  camp  leaders, 
and  in  turn  the  supervisor  presented  them  to  the 
farmers.     The    farmers,    in    turn,    presented    their 


ORGANIZATION  OF  A  CADET  CAMP     279 

difficulties.  They  said  they  could  not  afford  to 
pay  more ;  talked  about  middlemen,  commission- 
men,  express  rates,  greater  cost  of  baskets  and 
crates,  mortgage  on  the  farm,  and  everything,  in 
fact,  except  the  federal  income  tax.  But  the  boys 
won  out,  and  the  meeting  resulted  in  a  new  price 
never  before  paid  for  picking  currants.  And  the 
boys  who,  up  to  then,  had  been  able  to  pick  only 
40  quarts  a  day,  were  able  to  gather  many  more 
after  the  advance  in  rate,  picking  60  quarts  a  day 
instead  of  40  quarts.  There  are  people  who  can 
read  into   this  short   story  an   economic   principle. 

It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  have  a  clear  under- 
standing between  the  boy-camp  group,  through 
its  leader  or  the  organization  sending  the  camp, 
and  the  individual  farmer  or  the  group  of  farmers 
employing  the  boys,  as  to  fundamental  points  of 
remuneration,  type  of  work  expected,  length  and 
permanency  of  service. 

The  boy-camp-group  problem  is  wholly  different 
from  the  problem  of  the  individual  boy  who  works 
for  an  individual  farmer  and  has  no  established 
relations  with  any  camp.  The  latter  is  a  contract 
relationship  between  the  boy  and  the  farmer.  The 
farmer  usually  hires  the  boy  by  the  month  for 
general  farm  work,  and  the  duties  incident  to  such 
a  job  are  familiar   to    everyone.    The   hours   may 


28o  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

be  long  or  short,  the  work  hard  or  easy,  the  food 
good  or  bad,  the  boy's  room  clean  or  unsanitary; 
but  there  is  nothing  unusual  in  this  problem. 

The  one  which  is  discussed  here  is  that  of  the 
labor  camp,  where  a  group  of  boys  are  projected 
into  a  strange  community  to  work  at  a  job  un- 
familiar to  the  majority  of  them, —  working  for  a 
farmer  or  a  group  of  farmers  who  have  never 
before  emploj^ed  such  a  type  of  labor.  Any  single 
employer  of  farm  labor  who  is  in  a  position  to 
employ  a  group  of  boys  may  be  assumed  either 
to  be  conducting  a  large  farm  on  which  there  is 
a  great  diversity  of  crops  extending  over  a  wide 
range  of  time  of  harvesting,  or  to  be  a  specializ- 
ing farmer  working  in  an  intensive  way  on  a 
comparatively  small  area  with  special  crops  which 
are  harvested  in  short  periods  of  time.  Perhaps  it 
may  be  better  to  think  of  three  types  of  jobs,  or 
rather,  three  types  of  employers  who  have  jobs 
to  be  filled  by  groups  of  boys. 

First,  there  is  the  individual  farmer  who  is  a  spe- 
cialist. Such  employers  grow  berries  and  other  small 
fruits.  Here  the  boys  get  very  little  farm-  experience. 
They  do  obtain  an  idea  of  country  life,  and  they 
have  excellent  camp  experience,  but  in  order  to 
learn  much  about  the  fruit  and  berry  business 
they  ought  to  be  on  the  farm  during  the  time  of 


ORGANIZATION  OF  A  CADET  CAMP     281 

spraying,  pruning,  and  fertilizing.  In  reality  these 
boys  are  but  factory  hands  under  farm  conditions. 
Of  course  this  type  of  work  is  extremely  well 
adapted  to  the  inexperienced  boy. 

Second,  there  is  the  type  of  employer  repre- 
sented by  the  vegetable  grower.  In  this  case  it 
is  readily  seen  that  crops  are  put  into  the  ground 
as  early  as  April,  and  seeding  may  continue  until 
the  fifteenth  of  August,  and  with  weeding,  thin- 
ning, and  cultivating,  the  work  may  continue  prac- 
tically throughout  the  season.  The  harvesting  of 
certain  crops  may  start  late  in  June  and  continue 
until  the  ground  freezes.  In  this  work  the  boys 
obtain  the  very  best  sort  of  farm  experience  out- 
side of  that  obtained  from  general  farm  work. 
The  work  which  they  do  is  diversified,  and  they 
learn  about  many  farm  operations. 

Third,  another  type  of  employer  is  the  business 
organization  made  up  of  farmers ;  as,  for  example, 
the  shippers'  or  growers'  association,  where  a  group 
of  farmers  unite  under  a  more  or  less  compact 
organization  for  the  purpose  of  raising  and  moving 
crops.  Another  illustration  —  somewhat  different 
for  the  reason  that  the  organization  is  not  made 
up  of  farmers,  but  rather  is  allied  with  farmers  — 
is  that  of  a  canning  company.  In  working  for  such 
a  type  of  employer  the  boy  may  or  may  not  gain 


282  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

considerable  agricultural  experience,  depending  en- 
tirely upon  whether  he  is  working  on  diversified 
crops  for  long  periods  of  time  or  doing  specialized 
harvesting.  It  is  necessary  to  keep  in  mind  these 
different  types  of  work  as  represented  by  different 
types  of  employers. 

It  is  clear  that  in  some  sections,  under  certain 
agricultural  conditions  already  described,  the  job 
might  be  guaranteed  a  group  of  boys  from  the 
middle  of  April  until  the  first  of  November,  with 
almost  steady  work  for  six  days  in  the  week.  The 
nature  of  crops  and  weather  conditions  determine 
continuity  of  work.  A  heavy  rain  means  a  good  deal 
of  cultivating  and  weeding  immediately  afterward  in 
order  to  conserve  the  moisture.  A  light  rain  means 
that  the  boys  can  work  for  part  of  the  day  in  the 
fields,  while  in  the  case  of  small-fruit  farming  even 
a  slight  rain  prevents  the  picking  of  the  fruit. 
Again,  in  vegetable  farming  a  boy  may  work  all 
day  if  the  fields  are  not  too  hot,  without  any  injury 
to  his  health  or  to  the  crops,  because  the  vegetable 
plants  cannot  be  injured  by  handling,  no  matter 
how  hot  it  is. 

In  the  case  of  the  specialized  farmer,  there  is 
little  or  no  guarantee  for  work  beyond  a  short  and 
definite  period ;  that  is,  the  period  is  necessarily 
short,  but  whether  or   not   it   is  definite  depends 


ORGANIZATION  OF  A  CADET  CAMP     283 

a  great  deal  upon  the  weather  and  prices  of  crops. 
It  is  obvious  that  an  abundant  crop  might  cause 
a  low  market  price, —  a  price  too  low  to  pay  for 
picking, —  and  employers  who  early  in  the  season 
thought  that  they  wanted  a  group  of  boys  might 
decline  to  accept  them  at  the  last  moment.  They 
might  even  contract  for  the  boy-labor  camp  and 
after  the  boys  had  picked  for  a  few  days  desire  to 
drop  the  whole  enterprise  because  of  a  fall  in 
the  market  price, —  a  fall  which  would  not  be  evi- 
dent until  the  crops  commenced  to  come.  Or,  again, 
the  employer  might  contract  for  a  camp  of  boys 
to  pick  strawberries,  for  example,  and  complete 
arrangements  might  be  made  for  bringing  the  boys 
to  the  locality,  only  to  have  the  camp  project  aban- 
doned because  a  week  of  rain  had  absolutely  ruined 
the  strawberry  crops.  Such  an  experience  was  met 
in  New  York  State  the  past  season.  A  hailstorm  in 
Chautauqua  County  completely  destroyed  in  a  few 
minutes  the  prospects  of  a  camp  for  the  harvesting 
of  tomatoes.  Now,  it  is  evident  that  it  is  a  difficult 
matter  always  to  guarantee  a  job. 

The  Bureau  of  Vocational  Training  of  the  Mili- 
tary Training  Commission  of  New  York  State 
requested  the  zone  representatives  in  the  farm- 
placement  bureaus  to  see  to  it  that  jobs  were 
guaranteed  to  boys  and  that  the  time  of  service, 


284  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

place  of  service,  and  pay  should  be  clearly  stated. 
It  furthermore  recommended  that  the  job  should 
be  guaranteed  in  writing  by  a  single  farmer,  by  a 
group  of  farmers,  or  by  the  corporation  desiring 
these  boys;  that  the  employing  party  should  state 
the  kind  of  work,  the  pay,  the  number  of  boys 
needed,  the  duration  of  service,  the  living  condi- 
tions, the  provisions  made  for  the  food  supply  for 
the  first  week,  and  so  on.  It  made  it  clear  that 
there  should  be  an  assurance  in  writing  of  what 
the  boys  were  to  expect,  and  that  someone  should 
be  delegated  to  see  that  the  employer  lived  up  to 
his  agreement.  Out  of  a  theory  not  based  upon 
any  previous  experience  it  was  obviously  easy  to 
write  up  such  a  statement,  but  to  expect  it  to  be 
carried  out  without  a  hitch  in  all  parts  of  the  state 
and  for  all  kinds  of  work  and  all  types  of  employers, 
not  taking  into  consideration  climatic  and  market 
conditions,  to  say  nothing  about  the  prejudices  and 
idiosyncrasies  of  employers  and  boys,  was  to  count 
the  chickens  before  they  were  hatched.  About  all 
that  can  be  said  at  this  stage  of  this  movement  is 
in  illustration  of  the  way  the  job  guarantee  was 
handled.  In  what  follows  it  must  be  kept  in  mind 
that  much  of  what  has  been  said  or  what  may  be 
said  about  the  proposition  of  guaranteeing  the  job 
is   not  at  all  difficult   to  carry  out  in  the   case  of 


ORGANIZATION  OF  A  CADET  CAMP     285 

general  farming  and  is  only  moderately  difficult  in 
the  case  of  vegetable  growing. 

Every  camp  failure  due  to  the  lack  of  a  work- 
able contract  justifies  the  original  contention  that 
guaranteeing  the  job  is  extremely  important. 

MEMORANDUM   OF  UNDERSTANDING    IN    REFERENCE 
TO  THE  SOUTH   LIMA  (NEW  YORK)  CAMP 

Between  the  New  York  State  Military  Training  Commis- 
sion Farm-Cadet  Bureau,  West  Central  Zone  (Nathaniel  G. 
West,  Field  Inspector,  Rochester,  New  York)  and  the 
Growers'  and  Shippers' Association  of  South  Lima,  New  York. 

The  Farm-Cadet  Bureau,  West  Central  Zone,  agrees : 

1.  To  furnish  25  or  more  unskilled  farm  cadets,  16  to 
19  years  of  age,  for  labor  on  muck  and  upland  farms. 

2.  To  furnish  a  camp  leader,  who  shall  have  general 
charge  of  the  camp  of  boys,  who  shall  hire  out  the  boys  to 
near-by  farmers,  collect  all  wages,  and  purchase  supplies. 

3.  That  the  camp  leader  shall  keep  an  accurate  account  of 
all  wages  paid  to  farm  cadets  and  percentage  collected,  such 
accounts  to  be  open  for  inspection  by  committee  designated 
by  the  Growers'  and  Shippers'  Association. 

4.  To  furnish  a  competent  camp  cook  who  shall  prepare 
all  meals  for  the  farm  cadets. 

5.  To  pay  each  week,  through  the  camp  leader,  to  the 
Growers'  and  Shippers'  Association  a  sum  for  overhead  ex- 
penses, as  explained  below, —  such  sum  to  be  procured  by 
adding  to  all  wages  earned  by  the  cadets  a  sum  equal  to  five 
per  cent  of  such  wages. 


286  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

The  Growers'  and  Shippers'  Association  agrees : 

1.  To  provide  work,  as  continuously  as  possible,  for  each 
of  the  farm  cadets  in  the  above  camp  from  June  ii,  19 17, 
to  November  3,  1917. 

2.  To  pay  wages  for  each  farm  cadet  at  the  rate  of  $2 
per  day's  work,  such  day's  work  not  to  exceed  ten  hours. 

3.  To  pay  at  the  end  of  such  week  to  the  camp  leader 
all  wages  earned  by  farm  cadets  during  that  week. 

4.  To  pay  in  addition  to  the  above  wages  a  sum  equal  to 
5  per  cent  of  the  wages,  such  sum  to  be  turned  over 
to  treasurer  of  the  Growers'  and  Shippers'  Association  for 
payment  of  overhead  expenses  of  the  camp. 

5.  To  arrange  for  rental  of  suitable  quarters  for  the 
cadets,  furnish  two  ranges  and  fuel  for  same,  furnish  27  or 
more  cots,  tables,  benches,  and  chairs  for  the  quarters,  install 
a  telephone,  and  arrange  with  local  grocer  for  two  weeks' 
credit  for  the  camp  leader  for  the  purchase  of  supplies. 

6.  To  pay  for  the  items  mentioned  under  5,  above,  out  of 
the  5  per  cent  received  from  Ihe  camp  leader,  as  agreed  above. 

MASSACHUSETTS   PLAN    OF  INDIVIDUAL  AGREEMENT 
WITH   FARMER 

To  the  Committee  on  Food  Production  and  Conservation 

(Department  of  Mobilization  of  Schoolboys  for  Farm  Service) 
Dear  Sirs : 

I  hereby  apply  for boys  to  be  employed  by  me 

as  general  farm  labor  according  to  the  terms  and  regulations 
on  the  reverse  side  of  this  application. 

I  shall  require  these  boys  to  begin  work  upon 

and  probably  require  their  services,  if  satisfactory, 

until 


ORGANIZATION  OF  A  CADET  CAMP     287 

I  agree  to  pay  each  boy  $4  per  week  for  the  first  two 
weeks,  and  $6  per  week  thereafter ;  such  payment  to  be 
made  on  Saturday  of  each  week.  (Afterwards  changed,  see 
chapter  on  "Farm  Cadets,"  p.  250.) 

If  the  boy  Hves  in  a  camp,  I  agree  to  pay  $4  per  week 
for  his  board,  and  if  he  hves  with  me,  I  will  furnish  his 
board ;  the  above  to  be  in  addition  to  his  wages. 

I  agree  to  employ  the  boy  on  rainy  days  as  well  as  fair 
days,  and  on  rainy  days  to  use  his  service  as  far  as  possible 
under  cover. 

I  agree,  if  the  boy  is  unsatisfactory,  to  give  him  one 
week's  notice  or  one  week's  pay,  providing  him  with  a 
statement  in  writing  giving  my  reasons  for  his  discharge. 

Whenever  in  the  opinion  of  the  local  supervisor,  the  con- 
ditions of  living  or  of  labor  are  not  satisfactory,  the  boy  may 
be  withdrawn  without  prejudice  to  him. 

The  nature  of  the  work  for  which  the  boy  is  required  is 


Sign  here. 


(Farmer) 

Phone .Street  address 


Date Tovm 


The  right  leadership  in  a  camp  is  very  essen- 
tial. The  camp,  after  all,  is  but  the  lengthened 
shadow  of  its  leader.  It  is  not  difficult  to  write  the 
qualifications  essential  to  leadership  in  a  boys'  farm 
camp,  but  it  is   another   matter   to    find    any  one 


288  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

person  who  will  fill  all  the  conditions  that  are 
peculiar  to  a  labor  camp.  A  hundred-point  man 
capable  of  measuring  up  to  the  problems  involved 
in  camp  leadership  must  have  had  experience  in 
school  or  Association  work.  He  would  have  knowl- 
edge of  cooking  utensils  and  personal  equipment 
necessary  to  take  to  camp ;  capacity  to  arrange 
for  transportation  for  the  boys  by  the  most  direct, 
convenient,  and  economical  route;  ability  to  deal 
successfully  with  the  problem  of  the  first  night  in 
camp,  —  a  night  when  boys  cannot  or  will  not 
sleep,  when  they  are  stirred  up  by  the  novelty  of 
the  situation.  He  would  be  able  to  recognize  good, 
substantial,  nourishing  food,  and  to  see  that  the 
boys  had  proper  food  in  such  an  emergency  as  the 
camp  cook's  suddenly  being  taken  ill  or  deserting 
his  job.  He  would  have  had  experience  in  adjusting 
working  conditions,  would  know  how  many  quarts 
of  fruit,  for  example,  the  average  boy  can  pick; 
would  be  able  to  help  these  boys  get  the  most  out 
of  their  work  by  showing  them  the  most  effective 
method  of  harvesting;  would  understand  how  to 
use  first-aid  equipment.  He  would  have  to  see  that 
the  boys  kept  up  correspondence  with  their  homes. 
He  might  have  to  sit  up  all  night  with  a  boy  who 
had  eaten  more  fruit  than  was  good  for  him. 
The  right  leader  will  also  have  to  think  of  reading 


ORGANIZATION  OF  A  CADET  CAMP     289 

matter  for  the  camp  and  of  the  problem  of  having 
the  boys  attend  church  services  on  Sunday  when 
the  membership  of  the  camp  has  varied  religious 
beliefs.  He  may  have  some  orthodox  Jews  in  camp 
when  the  country  village  has  only  a  Methodist 
church.  He  must  satisfy  the  boys  who  want  to  have 
a  minstrel  show,  or  the  townspeople  who  offer  to 
entertain  the  boys.  He  may  even  have  to  arbitrate 
in  labor  disputes.  He  may  be  the  local  placement 
bureau.  He  should  be  able  to  drive  an  automobile, 
in  order  that  he  may  carry  a  flying  squad  five  miles 
from  camp  for  a  day's  work  for  a  farmer  who  is  in 
immediate  need.  He  must  be  able  to  answer  the 
questions  asked  on  blanks  sent  out  by  the  state 
departments  of  agriculture  and  education,  by  city 
boards  of  education,  by  state  Y.M.C.A.'s,  by  child- 
labor  bureaus,  and  by  all  other  organizations  more 
or  less  directly  interested  in  the  new  aspects  of 
old  problems.  If  the  boys  have  been  excused  from 
school,  he  must  certify  that  their  labor-camp  work 
has  been  equivalent  to  the  school  work  which  they 
otherwise  would  have  had.  He  must  be  the  banker 
of  the  camp  and  help  the  boys  conserve  the  money 
which  they  earn.  He  is  accountable  to  the  group 
for  the  expenses  of  the  camp,  in  order  that  these 
may  be  divided  pro  rata.  He  must  be  able  to  buy 
supplies  at  the  least  cost. 


290  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

It  is  with  deliberate  intention  that  this  hst  has 
been  made  lengthy  and  of  wide  range,  in  order  to 
show  that  no  man  exists  who  could  meet  adequately 
every  condition  imposed.  He  is  bound  to  be  "  born 
short,"  as  William  Hawley  Smith  would  state  it, 
on  some  of  these  angles.  If  he  is  a  social-minded 
man  of  the  Boy  Scout  or  Y.M.C.A.  type,  he  will 
be  long  on  entertainments,  recreation,  food  require- 
ments, knowledge  of  personal  equipment,  group 
work,  first  aid,  and  sanitation.  If  he  is  of  the 
school-teacher  type,  he  will  probably  be  strong  on 
discipline,  efficient  in  looking  after  details  of  school 
credits,  camp  expenses,  records,  moral  conditions, 
letter  writing,  and  keeping  boys  busy.  If  he  is  a 
technical  man  in  agriculture,  he  may  know  nothing 
about  baseball  on  Saturday  afternoon  or  how  to 
organize  a  minstrel  show,  but  he  will  probably 
know  how  to  do  more  than  keep  boys  busy.  He 
will  keep  them  effectively  busy;  that  is,  he  will 
arrange  to  have  certain  boys  do  the  lines  of  work 
adapted  to  their  skill  and  knowledge.  He  will  dis- 
cover ways  of  utilizing  the  labor  of  the  unskilled 
boy.  He  will  be  able  to  judge  whether  or  not  a 
boy  is  working  to  his  full  capacity,  and  he  may 
be  somewhat  pitiless  if  the  boy  does  not  measure 
up  to  a  farm -labor  standard.  In  other  words, 
such  a  man  will   be  very  largely  interested   in    a 


ORGANIZATION  OF  A  CADET  CAMP     291 

working  camp.  He  will  be  interested  in  meeting  the 
conditions  imposed  by  the  farmers.  He  will  know 
that  the  berries  must  be  expressed  by  four  o'clock 
and  that  the  picking  may  have  to  stop  promptly  at 
two.  He  will  know  that  a  leaky  crate  of  raspberries 
means  a  low  price  for  possibly  a  whole  carload. 
He  will  be  less  interested,  perhaps,  in  the  balanced 
ration  and  more  interested  in  using  the  products 
of  the  community  on  the  camp  table.  He  will  not 
be  interested  in  the  records  required  by  school 
officials  so  much  as  in  those  expected  of  him  by 
the  farm-bureau  agent.  In  short,  his  idea  is  to  pro- 
mote agriculture  and  not  to  promote  the  county 
Y.M.C.A.  movement,  the  back-to-the-farm  move- 
ment, or  any  other  movement  which  may  be  allied 
with  the  farm-cadet  service. 

It  is  not  possible  to  find  any  one  man  who  is 
socially,  pedagogically,  and  agriculturally  minded. 
If  he  claims  to  be  good  in  all  three  fields  he  prob- 
ably is  mediocre.  The  experience  of  the  past  year, 
however,  shows  some  remarkably  fine  work  done 
by  leaders  of  boy  camps.  Some  have  been  public- 
school  teachers  who  have  given  their  summer  serv- 
ices for  nothing  or  for  a  nominal  fee.  Some  have 
been  released  from  their  duties  as  Y.M.C.A.  secre- 
taries in  order  that  the  association  might  make  a 
contribution   to   the   farm-cadet   movement.    Some 


292  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

have  been  physical  directors  in  public  schools. 
Some  have  been  scout  masters  among  the  Boy 
Scouts.  Others  have  been  agricultural  teachers 
who  saw  that  this  work  was,  after  all,  in  the  line 
of  their  usual  duties. 

The    following    illustrates    one  of    the    hundred 
things  which  a  camp  leader  must  know  about: 


INSTRUCTIONS  TO  FARM  CADETS  ENLISTED  FOR  CAMP- 
SQUAD  SERVICE  IN  NEW  YORK  STATE 

JVHAT  TO  TAKE 
NECESSARY  ARTICLES 

Bed  sack  75  x  30  indies  (to  be  stuffed  with  straw  at  camp) 
or  cot  mattress ;  enamel-ware  plate,  cup,  saucer,  sauce  dish,  also 
knife,  fork,  and  spoon ;  dirmer  pail  or  box,  two  heavy  blankets, 
small  pillow,  working  dothes,  sweater,  gymnasium  shirt,  raincoat 
or  old  overcoat,  heavy  shoes,  toothbrush,  tooth  powder,  small 
mirror,  towels,  extra  socks,  rubbers  or  rubber  boots,  extra  under- 
wear, hairbrush,  comb,  soap,  handkerchiefs,  pajamas,  a  good 
disposition,  and  a  spirit  of  loyalty  to  the  camp  and  its  aims. 

DESIRABLE  ARTICLES 

Musical  instruments,  camera,  baseball,  glove,  bat,  needles, 
thread,  safety  pins,  notebook,  pencils,  writing  paper,  envelopes, 
good  books,  magazines. 


The  methods  of  housing  the  boys  differ  widely. 
Ordinarily  one  thinks  of  tents  as  being  the  most 
feasible,  but  the  scarcity  and  high  cost  of  such 
equipment  during  the  past  year  prevented  the  boys 


ORGANIZATION  OF  A  CADET  CAMP     293 

from  living  under  canvas.  Generally  speaking,  it 
would  be  better  to  think  in  terms  of  something 
more  permanent  than  tents,  as  these  do  not  last 
more  than  three  years,  and  if  the  camp  idea  of  har- 
vesting crops  by  the  use  of  boys  is  to  continue, — 
and  many  believe  it  will,  —  it  is  advisable  to  plan 
for  a  permanent  and  inexpensive  type  of  building. 
A  rough  board  shack  with  a  good  roof  is  highly  de- 
sirable in  the  early  spring  days  and  in  the  late  fall. 

Many  of  the  cadets  in  New  York  State  camps 
were  quartered  in  berry  houses  (which  are  really 
packing  and  storage  houses  located  in  the  berry 
fields),  in  vacant  houses,  in  schoolhouses,  in  grange 
halls,  and  in  buildings  located  on  the  fair  grounds. 
Most  of  these  berry  houses  were  two  stories  high, 
the  first  floor  being  used  for  the  commissary  de- 
partment and  the  second  floor  for  dormitories.  In 
such  cases  the  berries  were  packed  in  temporary 
shacks  adjoining  the  berry  houses.  In  other  cases 
the  boys  have  used  the  first  floor  for  a  sitting 
room  and  built  a  rough  shack  back  of  the  berry 
or  storage  house  for  kitchen  and  dining  room. 

One  of  the  most  significant  camping  places  was 
that  of  a  two-room  schoolhouse,  where  cots  for  fifty 
boys  were  put  into  the  rooms,  and  the  basement  was 
used  as  a  kitchen.  The  boys  built  a  table  outside 
and  put  up  a  canopy  over  it  for  a  dining   room. 


294  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

They  next  dammed  up  a  brook  which  ran  back 
of  the  schoolhouse  and  made  what  they  termed  a 
"bathtub,"  which  was  capable  of  holding  about  six 
boys  at  a  time.  They  also  put  into  fine  condition 
the  rather  disreputable  schoolhouse  latrines.  These 
boys  made  the  schoolhouse  ring  at  night  with  their 
popular  school  songs ;  the  old  piano  did  its  best  to 
bring  together  the  heritages  of  the  East  Side  and 
of  the  Highlands  of  the  Hudson. 

There  are  several  ways  of  making  provision  for 
camp  equipment.  One  is  to  develop,  under  state, 
county,  or  local  auspices,  a  series  of  permanent 
camp  quarters  located  in  small-fruit,  large-fruit,  and 
muck-land  districts.  This  equipment  need  not  be 
expensive.  It  will  be  located  very  near  the  source 
of  labor  demand  and  can  always  be  used,  whether 
boy  or  adult  labor  is  employed.  Fruit  and  produce 
growers  and  kindred  establishments  have  in  the 
past  provided,  more  or  less,  for  such  an  equipment. 

Another  plan  is  to  use  schoolhouses,  grange  halls, 
vacant  farm  buildings,  and  agricultural-fair  equip- 
ment. It  is  unfortunate  that  so  much  property  ordi- 
narily used  for  public  purposes  lies  idle  for  long 
periods  of  time.  Some  may  say  that  the  city  boy 
will  not  leave  country  property  in  good  shape,  but 
experience  so  far  has  shown  that  the  city  boys 
have  left  things  better  than  they  found  them. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  A  CADET  CAMP     295 

Still  another  type  already  spoken  of  is  tentage, 
and  perhaps  the  best  way  to  provide  such  an  equip- 
ment is  to  have  the  state  furnish  it  through  the 
adjutant  general's  ofifice. 

The  sanitary  aspects  of  any  type  of  camp  are  highly 
important.  In  Massachusetts  the  committee  of  pub- 
lic safety,  which  established  boy  camps,  required 
that  the  sanitary  conditions  of  these  camps  should 
be  inspected  by  the  board  of  health,  and  the  com- 
mittee furnished  full  directions  and  a  blue  print 
for  the  building  of  a  sanitary  latrine. 

Some  of  the  camps  burn  their  garbage  in  home- 
made incineration  plants. 

Ordinary  garden  hose  with  a  watering-pot  sprin- 
kler attachment,  or  an  elevated  barrel  with  a  sprayer 
attached,  and  filled  by  the  use  of  a  pail  and  ladder, 
were  shower-bath  devices  worked  out  by  the  boys 
in  various  camps. 

All  the  camps  devised  some  method  of  keeping 
food  cool,  ranging  from  those  that  had  a  real  city 
ice  chest  down  to  those  that  cleaned  out  a  spring 
and  set  in  it  a  bottomless,  covered  box. 

The  job  of  feeding  boys  in  camp  is  not  a  sinecure. 
Every  scheme  has  been  tried,  from  engaging  at  a 
salary  of  one  hundred  dollars  a  month  a  Pullman 
dining-car  chef  down  to,  or  shall  it  be  said  up  to, 
a  boy  cook.    The  cook  problem  in  a  labor  camp  is 


296  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

as  difficult  to  handle  as  is  the  so-called  "  servant " 
problem  of  the  city.  The  average  cook  knows  more 
about  cooking  than  he  does  about  dietetics.  He 
is  very  likely  to  lack  adaptability.  He  is  usually 
untrained  fpr  camp  cooking  and  is  not  particu- 
larly open  to  suggestions.  Experience  seems  to 
show  that  the  best  cook  is  the  one  who  has  done 
work  in  a  Y.M.C.A.  camp  or  in  a  Boy  Scout  camp. 
Of  course,  this  year  there  was  a  great  scarcity  of  the 
latter  class  to  be  found,  as  they  were  needed  in  their 
own  organizations,  and  therefore  many  camps  were 
obliged  to  employ  a  local  woman  of  the  matronly 
type  to  cook  for  the  boys ;  sometimes  an  experienced 
camp  leader  has  developed  some  good  cooks  among 
the  boys  in  camp.  Perhaps  the  best  results,  how- 
ever, were  obtained  from  boys  who  before  the  open- 
ing of  camps  were  given  from  two  to  four  weeks  of 
camp-cooking  instruction  in  the  school  system  from 
which  they  came.  These  boys  were  ready  to  use  the 
products  of  the  localities,  such  as  peas,  beans,  toma- 
toes, radishes,  lettuce,  and  corn,  while  the  profes- 
sional cook  often  seemed  more  familiar  with  the  use 
of  the  can  opener. 

The  quantity  and  variety  of  food  was  practically 
in  the  hands  of  the  boys  themselves,  assuming 
that  the  cook  was  a  good  one.  If  the  allowance 
of  fruit  for  breakfast,  for  example,  consisted  of  four 


ORGANIZATION  OF  A  CADET  CAMP     297 

prunes  or  one  banana  or  half  an  orange,  and  the 
group  as  a  whole  desired  a  larger  portion,  it  was 
perfectly  possible  for  them  to  secure  it  by  so 
voting,  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  food 
expense  of  the  camps  was  divided  pro  rata  among 
the  boys.  Under  these  conditions,  however,  it  was 
found  that  the  boys  were  very  economical  and 
frowned  upon  the  few  malcontents  who  wanted  to 
gorge  themselves. 

The  cafeteria  style  of  serving  prevailed  generally. 

Providing  amusements  in  recreation  camps  is 
always  a  problem,  but  farm  cadets  require  little  in 
the  way  of  entertainment  after  eight  or  ten  hours  of 
field  service.  Camp-fire  talks  on  agriculture,  corn 
roasts,  toasting  marshmallows,  giving  musical  enter- 
tainments and  minstrel  shows,  holding  mock  trials, 
playing  baseball  on  Saturday  afternoons  or  Sundays, 
constitute  the  chief  forms  of  recreation.  In  every 
instance  the  lads  have  been  well  received  in  the 
local  communities.  They  were  popular  features  at 
church  entertainments.  Red  Cross  benefits,  and 
country  sociables.  Often  the  boys,  especially  in 
the  berry-picking  regions,  went  swimming  about 
4  p.  M.,  after  the  crates  had  been  sent  by  the 
afternoon  express. 

In  every  instance  the  village  church  and  the 
county  Y.M.C.  A.  took  an  active  interest  in  the  farm 


298  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

cadets.  Many  of  the  boys  played  musical  instru- 
ments, and  their  confidence  in  themselves  was  con- 
tributory to  many  supplementary  boy  choirs.  The 
country  pastors  evidently  made  it  a  point  to  do 
what  they  could  for  the  pleasure  of  all  the  boys,  and 
without  exception  there  seemed  to  be  no  religious 
distinctions.  In  some  camps  the  Catholic  priest 
expressed  his  fatherly  feeling  for  the  lads.  In 
others  the  Jewish  and  Catholic  boys  attended  the 
union  village  church.  In  brief,  the  boys  entered  into 
the  spirit  of  the  rural  life,  and  both  the  country  folk 
and  the  youth  of  the  city  were  the  better  for  it. 

A  study  of  the  different  camps  in  operation  in 
various  parts  of  the  country  seems  to  indicate  that 
they  might  be  grouped  under  six  heads  as  follows. 

I.  Concentration,  or  training,  camps.  These  are 
usually  located  in  agriculturally  strategic  sections 
of  the  state,  where  boys  may  receive  preliminary 
training  in  camp  life  and  in  farm  work  under  disci- 
plinary and  instructional  conditions.  Of  course 
such  a  camp  can  do  nothing  more  than  give  the 
boys  a  training  in  the  elements  of  farm  activities 
(such  as  harnessing  a  horse,  running  a  hand  culti- 
vator, using  a  hoe,  driving  a  team)  and  serve  as  a 
trying-out  period  for  weeding  out  boys  who  are 
unsatisfactory.  These  camps  cannot  be  considered 
places  which  will   give   a   preliminary  agricultural 


ORGANIZATION  OF  A  CADET  CAMP     299 

education,  for  that  is  very  different  from  giving 
a  preliminary  idea  of  farm  operations.  After  these 
boys  have  received  a  course  of  such  training,  they 
are  sent  out  under  leadership  to  work  in  a  section 
of  the  state  where  a  group  may  work  for  one 
farmer  and  live  at  the  camp  meanwhile  or  may 
work  for  individual  farmers  and  live  with  the  em- 
ployer. Obviously  it  is  taken  for  granted  that  such 
a  camp  is  located  in  a  good  agricultural  section 
and  that  its  surroundings  have  something  more 
than  fine  swimming  holes  or  beautiful  scenery. 
These  boys  must  be  trained  in  an  environment  and 
under  conditions  similar  to  the  farm  life  in  which 
they  are  to  participate  later.  It  would  seem  that 
the  agricultural  colleges  of  the  country  and  the 
secondary  schools  of  agriculture  would,  generally 
speaking,  offer  splendid  locations  for  establishing 
training  camps.  Here  would  be  found,  or  ought 
to  be  found,  good  land.  This  is  not  always  true, 
because  occasionally  an  agricultural  college  has 
been  located  irrespective  of  good  land.  The  tech- 
nical and  dormitory  facilities,  however,  would  be 
available  for  the  boys  in  training. 

II.  Farm-workings  or  labor-distributing^  camps. 
These  are  concentration  camps  in  a  certain  sense, 
but  they  are  located  directly  in  the  farm  district 
where  the  boys,  after   receiving   their  preliminary 


300  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

training,  are  to  find  work  in  the  community  ad- 
joining the  camp.  Several  camps  of  this  order  have 
started  out  with  the  idea  of  giving  a  preliminary 
training  in  agriculture  in  the  camp  itself,  and  have 
borrowed  or  bought  farming  implements  and  teams 
and  leased  land  in  order  to  give  the  training.  But 
in  the  majority  of  cases  this  idea  was  abandoned, 
for  it  was  found  that  these  boys  could  receive  all 
their  preliminary  training  with  the  farmers,  pro- 
vided the  leader  of  the  camp  could  establish  help- 
ful relations  between  the  boy  and  the  employing 
farmer  and  could,  out  of  his  wisdom  and  experi- 
ence, protect  the  boy  in  the  early  stages  of  the 
work  and  guide  him  in  all  its  stages.  In  other 
words,  in  this  type  of  camp  a  city  man,  acting 
as  leader,  comes  into  a  community  with  a  group 
of  boys  who  live  at  the  camp  but  receive  their 
training  with  the  near-by  farmers.  A  labor-supply 
camp,  composed  of  able-bodied  boys,  is  a  type  which 
adequately  meets  the  need  at  small  expense. 

III.  Military  farfn-training  cmnp.  This  is  a  type 
of  camp  where  city  boys,  under  the  direction  of  a 
school  or  some  organization,  go  into  a  farming  com- 
munity and  open  up  new  land  which  otherwise 
would  not  have  been  put  under  cultivation.  These 
boys  stay  at  the  camp  during  the  season.  They 
do  not  work  for  the  farmers  near  by,  or,  at  least, 


ORGANIZATION  OF  A  CADET  CAMP     301 

not  ordinarily,  —  the  intention  being  to  establish 
a  self-supporting  and  self-maintaining  camp  for  the 
use  of  the  boys  who  attend.  The  land  is  tilled, 
the  seed  planted,  and  the  harvest  gathered  for  the 
benefit  of  the  boys.  Any  profits  are  given  to  the 
boys  or  to  the  school,  and  any  expenses  for  con- 
ducting the  camp,  or  overhead  charges,  usually 
come  out  of  the  organization  or  school  represented. 
It  is  questionable  whether,  generally  speaking,  this 
type  of  camp  is  on  a  sound  economic  and  agri- 
cultural basis.  If  such  a  camp  could  be  carried  on 
for  a  number  of  years  with  a  strong  school  or 
other  organization  behind  it,  and  plenty  of  capital, 
it  is  very  likely  that  it  would  succeed.  It  takes 
capital  to  establish  good  soil  conditions  and  pur- 
chase tools,  farm  machinery,  and  stock,  and  to  put 
up  buildings.  It  is  a  highly  desirable  type  of  camp 
to  consider  in  terms  of  many  years  or  where  a 
school  wishes  to  give  its  boys  a  military  and  farm 
experience.  But  in  the  food  emergency  through 
which  the  country  is  now  passing,  it  is  doubtful  if 
this  type  of  camp  should  ever  have  been  started. 
It  is,  however,  an  excellent  type  to  establish  as  a 
permanent  adjunct  to  a  city  school  system. 

IV.  Cooperative  camp  where  the  boys  share  in 
proceeds.  This  type  of  camp  is  practically  like  III, 
and  if  the  farm  land  is  new  and  the  camp  leader 


302  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

is  untrained  in  agricultural  operations  and  the  boys 
are  unskilled,  it  is  about  as  likely  to  be  doomed 
to  failure  as  is  the  other. 

V.  The  village-  or  country-school  type  of  camp. 
This  is  a  camp  where  the  schoolboys,  under  the 
leadership  of  a  teacher,  go  to  the  outskirts  of  the 
village  and  develop  a  garden.  If  the  land  is  good 
and  the  teacher  knows  agriculture  and  the  boys 
attend  to  business,  they  will  most  certainly  receive 
an  excellent  practical  training  useful  to  them  in 
life.  They  will  have  learned  how  to  work  in  the 
soil,  how  to  work  together  for  a  common  purpose, 
how  to  stick  to  a  job  until  it  is  finished,  how  to 
look  ahead  from  the  time  seed  is  purchased  until 
the  crop  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  customer. 
All  these  things  are  good  and  they  are  useful  to  any 
boy,  but,  of  course,  from  the  standpoint  of  increas- 
ing the  food  supply  in  any  large  way  through  the 
growing  of  wheat,  feed  corn,  oats,  rye,  buckwheat, 
potatoes,  and  large  fruits  there  is  little  to  be  said. 
The  work  is  to  be  commended  on  the  basis  of  its 
value  to  the  individual  boy. 

VI.  Short-term  camp,  sometimes  called  ^"^ flying 
squadron!'  This  type  of  camp  is  advisable  only  in 
an  intensive-farming  region  where  quick  service 
for  the  harvesting  period  is  needed.  The  squad 
itself   will    serve    to    keep  a   balance   between    the 


ORGANIZATION  OF  A  CADET  CAMP     303 

demand  for  labor  and  the  supply.  It  is  easy  to 
picture  a  fruit  region  around  and  through  which 
are  a  number  of  camps.  Each  one  ought  to  be 
working  to  the  limit,  but,  of  course,  as  a  matter 
of  fact  in  one  section  there  would  be  a  greater  de- 
mand for  boys  than  could  be  met  by  the  local 
camp.  It  is  at  this  time  that  the  flying  squadron 
comes  in,  when,  in  response  to  the  SOS  call,  a  group 
of  temporarily  idle  boys  from  one  camp  may  be  sent 
to  another  camp  which  is  short  of  help. 


CHAPTER  XII 
A  SUMMARIZED  PROGRAM  OF  ACTION 

Out  of  this  war  we  are  going  to  have  a  new  spirit 
and  method  in  education.  England  has  already  be- 
gun to  evaluate  its  present  system.  It  has  issued 
a  report  on  the  assistance  which  education,  if  prop- 
erly directed,  can  give  to  industry  and  commerce 
after  the  war.  The  results  of  a  recent  investigation 
afford  —  so  the  report  states  —  a  convincing  proof 
of  the  necessity  of  improving  and  extending  the 
provisions  hitherto  made  for  instruction  and  train- 
ing in  scientific  studies  as  a  necessary  foundation 
for  fruitful  research. 

The  report  goes  on  to  say  that,  in  a  sense  un- 
known to  former  generations,  England  has  become 
a  part  of  Europe ;  and  in  the  interest  not  merely  of 
commerce  but  of  the  intelligent  conduct  of  national 
affairs  an  adequate  knowledge  of  the  languages  — 
and,  through  the  languages,  of  the  literatures,  his- 
tories, and  civilizations  of  European  countries  — 
should  be  in  the  possession  of  a  far  larger  pro- 
portion of  its  population  than  in  the  past.  It  states 
that  particular  subjects  of  instruction  in  the  high 

304 


Military  engineering  will  bec(jme  a  popular  and  necessary  part  of  the  cur- 
ricula of  our  colleges  and  technical  institutes.    A  class  in  suspension-bridge 
work  at  Wentworth  Institute,  Boston,  Massachusetts 


Military  prepaiedness  of  college  boys  and  schoolboys  includes  other  activities 

than  merely  drilling.    Trench  drainage,  one  of  a  score  of  war  emergency 

courses,  at  Wentworth  Institute,   Boston,   Massachusetts 


Returned  convalescent  soldiers,  who  would  be  idle  but  for  the  opportunity 
offered  to  brush  up  their  education.    Ogden  Military  Convalescent  Hospital 


\    ^  .  -~ 


•  1   .mok. ^ 

A  corner  of  the  printing  and  photo-engraving  shop  at  Manitoba  ^Military  Con- 
valescent Hospital,  Winnipeg.    These  men  have  been  assigned  to  courses  of 
reeducation  because  of  inability  to  return  to  their  former  occupations 


SUMMARIZED  PROGRAM  OF  ACTION     305 

schools  and  institutes  cannot  be  divorced  from  the 
consideration  of  their  organization  and  of  their  cur- 
ricula as  a  whole,  if  a  proper  balance  of  studies  is 
to  be  secured  and  if  higher  education  is  to  be  truly 
liberal  and  humane  in  its  spirit  and  influence.  It 
insists  that  access  to  the  schools  must  be  ren- 
dered easier  for  native  ability  wherever  it  is  found, 
and  affirms  again  and  again  that  the  needs  of 
the  nation  cannot  be  satisfied  merely  by  changes 
affecting  higher  education  or  by  a  provision  of  educa- 
tional facilities  confined  to  scholars  of  special  gifts 
and  abilities.  It  closes  by  saying  that  the  future 
will  make  new  and  increased  demands,  especially 
in  a  democratic  community,  on  the  health,  char- 
acter, and  intelligence  of  every  citizen;  and  these 
demands  can  only  be  met  by  comprehensive  and 
far-reaching  improvements  and  developments  of 
elementary  education. 

The  individual-industrial-efficiency  idea  which  we 
obtained  from  Germany  will  have  to  be  interpreted 
in  America  not  for  military  purposes,  but  in  terms 
of  personal  and  vocational  service  for  the  nation. 
Just  as  the  academic  militarism  of  the  Old  World 
has  been  found  wanting  and  has  been  gradually 
transformed  into  the  mobilization  of  all  forces  be- 
hind the  lines  on  an  entirely  new  basis  and  concep- 
tion of  what  may  be  done  by  a  people  in  time  of 


3o6  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

war,  so  we  in  this  country  shall  learn  that  we  may 
in  times  of  peace,  through  efficient  and  effective 
living,  prepare  for  defense.  In  this  preparation  we 
may  learn  that  improved  elementary  education,  that 
vocational  training,  that  bringing  into  the  schools 
the  Boy  Scout  spirit,  that  teaching  of  sanitation  and 
personal  hygiene,  that  organizing  our  courses  on  a 
unit  and  project  basis,  that  developing  systems  of 
student  service  in  school  life,  that  extending  school 
facilities  to  adults,  and  a  hundred  other  things  which 
have  been  thought  of  as  fads  and  pedagogical  idio- 
syncrasies will,  to  quote  the  New  York  State  law 
relative  to  military  equivalents,  "  specifically  prepare 
for  service  useful  to  the  state  in  the  maintenance 
of  defense,  in  the  promotion  of  public  safety,  in 
the  conservation  and  development  of  the  state's 
resources,  or  in  the  construction  and  maintenance 
of  public  improvements."  Truly,  a  program  for 
peace  as  well  as  for  war. 

The  school  board  and  its  executive  officer,  the 
superintendent,  should  do  everything  to  save  the 
school  buildings  for  school  purposes.  They  are  lit- 
erally factories  turning  out,  it  is  hoped,  handmade 
products ;  and  in  time  of  war  their  service  should 
be  increased  rather  than  diminished.  To  use  them 
as  hospitals  will  be  a  mistake,  —  better  by  far  con- 
fiscate department  stores.    Bring  the  war  into  the 


SUMMARIZED  PROGRAM  OF  ACTION     307 

schools  in  the  spirit  already  interpreted  in  preceding 
chapters,  but  do  not  take  the  schools  into  the  war. 

Do  not  eliminate  studies  indiscriminately.  Eval- 
uate if  you  will,  —  and  this  is  always  well,  —  but 
wholesale  cutting  out  is  to  be  avoided.  It  may  be 
that  the  cost  and  value  of  instruction  in  freehand 
drawing  will  have  to  be  compared  with  the  perma- 
nent value  of  the  study  of  Latin.  It  may  be  that 
instead  of  adding  to  the  vocational  department  a 
machine-shop  equipment,  which  is  always  expensive, 
it  will  be  discovered  that  a  cooperative  course  can 
be  developed,  employing  the  equipment  of  a  neigh- 
boring factory,  and  that  all  the  school  need  furnish 
is  a  teacher  for  blackboard  work  in  mathematics, 
drawing,  and  science.  It  is  likely  that  a  longer 
school  day  will  be  advisable  and  also  a  longer  school 
year.  It  is  quite  probable  that  the  introduction  of 
the  methods  of  the  Boy  Scout  movement  into  the 
public  schools  will  be  found  superior  to  some  of 
the  present  teaching  of  nature  study,  recreational 
work,  civics,  and  conduct. 

Provision  must  be  made  for  filling  the  places  of 
the  male  teachers  who  will  be  drafted.  Many  of 
these  will  be  instructors  in  science  and  mathe- 
matics. It  ought  to  be  possible  to  secure  the  serv- 
ices of  retired  civil  or  mechanical  engineers  for 
teaching  these  subjects.    It  is  feasible  to  draft  into 


3o8  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

service  married  women  who  have  once  taught.  It 
is  to  be  hoped  that  the  government  will  eventu- 
ally recognize  that  educational  enterprise  as  well 
as  industrial  enterprise  ought  to  furnish  grounds 
for  exemption.  As  war  comes  closer  to  us  provi- 
sion must  be  made  for  keeping  the  schools  open 
twelve  months  in  the  year,  and  from  eight  in  the 
morning  until  ten  at  night  for  six  days  in  the  week. 
Every  child  up  to  the  age  of  14  must  be  kept  in 
school.  It  is  the  best  place  for  him,  provided,  of 
course,  the  school  rises  to  its  full  height,  —  and  it 
is  taken  for  granted  that  it  will.  The  physical 
condition  of  the  younger  children  especially  should 
be  watched  very  carefully.  The  teacher  should  dis- 
cover the  conditions  at  home.  It  may  be  that  some 
pupils  have  had  no  breakfast  and  are  not  likely  to 
have  a  suitable  lunch  or  even  a  supper.  Some 
will  have  to  be  fed  in  the  schools,  and  here  is  an 
opportunity  for  the  older  girls  in  domestic-science 
classes.  Some  will  report  certain  home  conditions 
that  will  require  that  the  school  make  a  report  to 
the  local  Red  Cross  chapter  or  some  other  relief 
agency.  Again  there  is  opportunity  for  the  older 
girls  to  serve  through  their  knowledge  of  home 
nursing,  infant  feeding,  and  first  aid. 

If  the  war  strikes  us  hard,  we  may  have  to  think 
of  part-time  work  for  children  above   14,  but  we 


SUMMARIZED  PROGRAM  OF  ACTION     309 

must  never  let  the  children  get  away  from  us  as 
they  have  in  England.  We  must  control  the  exodus. 
We  must  not  abrogate  the  existing  compulsory- 
attendance  laws  and  the  existing  labor  laws.  We 
must  not  interpret  these  laws  with  laxity  and  shut 
our  eyes  while  the  children  go  by  us  on  their  way 
to  work.  We  may  do  well  to  amend  these  laws 
if  in  so  doing  we  can  incorporate  useful  labor  into 
the  educative  process.  In  other  words,  we  must  be 
constructive  in  any  part-time  measures  which  are 
adopted.  The  educative  value  of  profitable  labor 
need  not  be  lost. 

It  will  be  well  for  us  to  look  into  the  real 
value  of  military  training  for  schoolboys  before 
we  adopt  in  a  wholesale  fashion  obsolete  militar- 
ism. The  value  of  wooden-gunism  is  questionable. 
Physical  training,  vocational  training,  athletics,  Boy 
Scout  work,  team  play,  and  discipline  are  far  more 
valuable.  Military  drill  given  in  addition  to  these 
activities  may  be  advisable.  However,  on  this  point 
there  is  still  a  difference  of  opinion.  But  to  give 
formal  military  instruction  without  considering  its 
adaptability  to  the  methods  used  in  modern  war- 
fare and  the  training  incident  to  effective  prepa- 
ration for  them  is  neither  military  preparedness 
on  the  one  hand  nor  sensible  educational  procedure 
on  the  other. 


3IO  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

School  boards  ought  to  organize  at  once  voca- 
tional courses  to  secure  state  and  national  aid,  and 
seek  from  the  legislature  state  aid  for  directors  of 
community  gardens,  as,  from  now  on,  these  will  be 
a  permanent  feature  of  community  life.  Some  sort 
of  provision  ought  to  be  made  relative  to  bring- 
ing agriculture  into  the  city  school  or  taking  the 
city  boy  to  agriculture.  A  country  branch  of  a 
city  school  is  possible.  Play  and  recreation  centers 
must  be  developed.  The  increase  of  juvenile  offenses 
in  both  England  and  France  during  this  war  has 
been  tremendous.  Many  of  these  offenses  are  com- 
mitted by  children  who  are  still  at  school.  There 
is  much  evidence  that  owing  to  the  absence  on  mili- 
tary service  of  their  fathers,  —  and,  perhaps  even 
more,  of  their  elder  brothers, —  the  industrial  em- 
ployment of  their  mothers,  the  darkened  streets,  and 
other  circumstances,  many  school  children  are  suffer- 
ing from  the  lack  of  proper  care  and  discipline  and 
are  exposed  to  serious  risks  of  deterioration.  These 
conditions  have  been  mitigated  through  the  estab- 
lishment of  evening  play  centers,  which  provide  the 
children  with  suitable  occupation  and  amusement 
after  school  hours. 

The  principal  of  a  school  can  play  a  large  part 
in  a  war-emergency  program.  He  can  develop  the 
idea  of   War  Savings   among  the  children    in   his 


SUMMARIZED  PROGRAM  OF  ACTION     311 

school.  Announcement  has  been  made  that  the 
government  intends  to  develop  the  War  Savings 
Certificate  plan  of  England.  These  certificates  are 
perhaps  better  adapted  to  persons  of  small  means 
than  a  Liberty  Bond.  The  United  States  Treasury 
Department  has  set  forth  a  plan  for  advertising  and 
selling  these  certificates  through  the  public  schools 
of  the  nation.  The  aim  is  to  have  every  pupil  an 
owner  of  a  "  little  baby  bond  "  and  a  participant  in 
a  democratic  plan  of  government  security.  A  cam- 
paign for  thrift  has  been  started.  The  schools  must 
do  their  part. 

The  principal  can  organize  patriotic  meetings  at 
which  he  can  explain  the  purposes  of  the  Red 
Cross,  the  Liberty  Loan,  and  the  garden  and  conser- 
vation movements.  He  can  distribute  pamphlets 
relating  to  war  service.  In  a  small  community  he 
can  be  the  leader  of  the  Red  Cross  movement,  only 
he  must  always  remember  that  he  is  to  work  with 
state  and  national  organizations  and  is  not  to  write 
to  Washington  when  he  can  perhaps  step  across 
the  street  to  local  headquarters  or  write  directly  to 
state  headquarters.  Of  course,  he  will  follow  closely 
the  printed  directions  with  reference  to  bandages, 
shipping,  etc.,  for  the  general  organization  has  put 
more  thought  into  it  and  gained  more  experience 
than  he  could  possibly  gather. 


312  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

Obviously  the  principal  ought  to  allow  no  com- 
petition between  school  organizations  and  local  or- 
ganizations. If  the  local  organization  is  strong  and 
effective,  he  ought  to  work  under  it.  If  it  is  not, 
he  may  well  work  over  it.  By  all  means  he  should 
inform  pupils  of  the  meaning  of  the  war,  that  they 
in  turn  may  carry  word  to  their  parents;  and  such 
work  is  not  always  limited  to  districts  where  people 
are  foreign  born.  There  may  be  as  much  need 
for  such  work  in  the  West  as  in  New  York  City. 
A  Western  farmer  is  reported  as  saying  that  he 
did  not  care  who  owned  the  country  or  whether 
the  Germans  took  it  or  not  so  long  as  he  sold 
his  wheat  crop. 

The  principal  may  direct  a  state  census  on  some 
particular  data  for  which  state  authorities  may  call. 
He  should  bring  together  various  bulletins  issued 
by  state  and  national  governments  which  concern 
food  production  and  conservation,  sanitation,  public 
health,  nursing,  dietetics,  etc.,  and  by  publishing  lists 
of  such  material  in  newspapers  and  posting  them 
on  school  bulletin  boards,  bring  the  information 
within  them  to  the  people  who  need  it  most.  He 
should  make  the  hall  exercises  in  the  school  mean 
more  than  ever.  Let  us  hope  that  "  America  "  may 
be  sung  with  more  vim,  and  that  the  principal  will 
know  the  second  stanza.    The  "  Marseillaise  "  and 


SUMMARIZED  PROGRAM  OF  ACTION     313 

other  national  songs  of  our  allies  may  be  sung.  Of 
course  a  service  flag  made  by  the  girls  in  the  school 
hangs  prominently  in  the  assembly  hall,  and  each 
of  its  stars  speaks  for  a  teacher,  a  student,  or  a 
graduate  who  represents  the  life-giving  contribu- 
tion of  the  school  to  the  cause  of  democracy. 

The  country-school  principal  has  a  great  deal  to 
do.  His  work  differs  from  that  of  the  city  principal 
in  that  he  may  be  a  recognized  leader  in  almost 
everything,  while  the  city  principal  must  necessarily 
cooperate  with  individuals  and  organizations.  The 
principal  in  the  open  country  can  be  the  local 
agent  for  seed  and  fertilizer  and  for  the  distribution 
of  farmers'  bulletins.  In  fact,  he  may  be  the  local 
representative  for  the  state  departments  of  educa- 
tion, of  agriculture,  of  labor,  and  of  health. 

He  ought  to  use  judgment  in  excusing  boys  from 
school  for  farm  work.  He  will  know  the  exact  cir- 
cumstances under  which  a  boy  goes  to  work.  He 
will  know  whether  he  is  working  on  his  father's 
farm  or  that  of  a  neighbor.  He  can  help  that  boy 
with  his  lessons  so  that  he  can  do  some  studying 
at  home  and  keep  up  with  his  classes.  And  in 
the  late  fall,  when  the  boys  return  to  school  from 
their  farm  work,  he  can  organize  a  special  class 
in  order  that  they  may  satisfactorily  make  ■  up 
their   studies.    This   extra   work   on   his   part   and 


314  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

that  of  his  coworkers  will  make  one  of  the  answers 
to  the  call  to  the  colors  which  comes  to  every  man 
and  woman  in  this  country. 

A  city  principal  can  organize  an  agricultural 
course  in  his  city  school,  and  obtain  a  state-aided 
teacher  for  giving  agricultural  theory  in  the  winter 
in  connection  with  biological  science,  and  have  this 
teacher  take  a  group  of  boys  into  the  country  in 
the  spring.  He  can  always  think  of  his  boys  as 
going  out  to  farm  work  on  the  basis  of  an  organ- 
ized group,  and  on  that  basis  only.  A  teacher  from 
his  school  might  go  with  these  boys  and  serve  as 
their  leader.  It  is  probable  that  educational  experi- 
ments of  this  nature  will  lead  eventually  to  country 
branches  of  city  schools. 

It  is  clear  that  the  industrial  and  trade  schools, 
because  of  the  very  nature  of  their  purpose,  may 
render  unusual  service,  but  they  must  start  out 
with  the  idea  that  they  are  to  take  their  direc- 
tions from  the  state  boards  of  control  of  vocational 
education  rather  than  go  off  at  a  tangent  inde- 
pendent of  any  state  or  national  movement.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  provision  has  been  made 
for  a  national  system  of  vocational  education  with 
a  Federal  Board  of  Vocational  Education  guiding 
it,  and  that  every  state  board  having  charge  of 
vocational  education  is  working  in  conjunction  with 


SUMMARIZED  PROGRAM  OF  ACTION     315 

the  national  board.  We  must  keep  in  mind  that 
the  Federal  Board  of  Vocational  Education  is  in 
close  touch  with  the  National  Council  of  Defense 
at  Washington,  and  consequently  with  all  depart- 
ments of  the  national  government  which  concern 
war  measures.  For  a  local  school  to  jeopardize  its 
chances  for  national  and  state  aid  through  failure 
to  follow  a  program  provided  by  these  authorities, 
or  to  develop  types  of  work  which  are  out  of  accord 
with  national  needs,  will  not  be  the  part  of  wisdom 
or  common  sense.  These  schools  must  not  forget 
that  their  primary  function  is  to  make  mechanics 
and  not  army  supplies,  but  if  they  are  called  upon 
to  do  the  latter  work,  or  if  they  can  do  it  effectively, 
they  must  make  it  educational  in  its  aim  and  not 
merely  productive  work. 

State  officials  ought  to  have  inventories  made 
of  the  equipment  of  the  vocational  schools,  with 
a  census  of  the  experience  and  training  of  the 
instructors,  and  a  state  study  ought  to  be  made 
of  plans  to  train  workers  for  the  different  branches 
needed.  Such  a  study  would  point  out  how  the 
semiskilled  may  become  skilled,  how  the  unskilled 
may  become  semiskilled,  how  the  necessary  train- 
ing may  be  given  to  specialist  tool  makers,  and 
how  there  can  be  developed  a  type  of  industrial 
work  suitable  for  women  and  girls. 


3i6  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

The  directors  of  trade  schools  will  provide  op- 
portunities for  the  training  of  foremen  in  evening 
classes,  or  at  other  times  if  necessary,  using  methods 
of  instruction  which  will  increase  their  skill  in  deal- 
ing with  green  help  or  unskilled  laborers.  These 
men  will  adjust  the  evening  schools  to  run  the  year 
round,  and  also  provide  for  off-time  classes. 

In  vocational  schools  of  the  commercial  order, 
of  which  we  have  very  few  in  the  country,  provi- 
sion will  be  made  for  short-unit  courses  in  com- 
mercial practice  for  women  and  girls  to  fit  them 
to  take  the  place  of  men  drafted. 

As  has  already  been  stated,  it  is  very  likely  that 
the  day  vocational  schools  will  have  comparatively 
few  pupils  during  the  war  period,  as  young  persons 
who  ordinarily  go  to  these  schools  will  have  readily 
obtained  work  in  factories.  However,  such  youth 
can  still  be  instructed  if  the  school  will  go  to  the 
factory  and  there  establish  training  courses. 

The  present  is  a  good  time  to  develop  com- 
mercial courses  which  have  a  vocational  purpose, 
and  which  have  methods  more  in  accord  with  the 
definition  of  vocational  training.  The  commercial 
departments  in  the  majority  of  our  high  schools 
rather  indifferently  train  stenographers,  typists,  and 
clerks.  They  do  not  even  attempt  to  train  sales- 
men and  saleswomen,  index  and  statistical  clerks. 


SUMMARIZED  PROGRAM  OF  ACTION     317 

comptometer  operators,  etc.  Very  few  of  the  com- 
mercial courses  have  either  the  definiteness  of  aim 
of  the  industrial  and  trade  schools  or  the  practical 
contact  with  actual  commercial  practice  which  will 
be  necessary  if  they  are  to  meet  the  requirements 
of  modern  business.  Commercial  schools  have  not 
yet  caught  the  spirit  of  part-time,  off-time,  or  short- 
unit  programs. 

The  manual-training  teacher  will  find  plenty  to 
do ;  that  is,  if  the  state  departments  of  education 
furnish  him  definite  data  and  specifications  for  war- 
emergency  work.  It  will  be  practically  useless  for 
him  to  carry  on  special  work  in  any  large  way 
unless  the  field  of  service  of  the  boy  workers  is 
organized  in  some  such  way  as  is  the  Red  Cross 
work.  If  boxes  are  needed  for  packing  supplies,  a 
working  drawing  of  the  same  ought  to  be  furnished 
by  the  state  department.  If  hospital  furniture,  such 
as  bed  racks  and  tables,  is  needed,  the  articles 
should  be  standardized  in  order  that  they  may  be 
made  in  quantities  and  may  be  serviceable  when 
they  reach  the  source  of  need.  The  same  is  true 
of  splints.  The  reason  for  the  great  accomplishment 
of  the  French  and  Canadian  boys  in  the  making  of 
splints  used  temporarily  on  the  field  of  service  is 
that  they  have  been  furnished  with  very  definite 
directions  as  to  size,  material,  and  method  of  making. 


3i8  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

It  cannot  be  too  emphatically  stated  that  the 
war-service  work  of  the  elementary  and  secondary 
schools  needs  definite  direction  from  the  state  de- 
partments of  education  if  the  unity  of  effort  based 
upon  directions  common  to  all  are  to  result  not 
only  in  effective  work  but  also  in  fulfilling  the  social 
and  civic  purposes  which  are  behind  the  service. 

This  is  an  opportune  time  for  the  manual-training 
teacher  to  abandon  his  set  of  models.  They  should 
have  been  set  aside  long  ago.  His  war-service 
duties  will  give  an  additional  motive  for  socializing 
his  work.  In  small  cities  and  villages  where  there  is 
plenty  of  land  available  for  cultivation  the  director 
of  manual  training,  On  the  first  of  May,  ought  to 
change  his  title  and  assume  his  duties  as  director 
of  community  gardens.  He  should  have  been  pre- 
paring for  this  work  by  giving  instruction  in  garden 
work  in  the  manual-training  room  during  March 
and  April.  Meanwhile  he  should  have  interested 
adults  of  the  community  in  the  plan  of  a  garden 
where  both  old  and  young  might  work,  and  should 
have  brought  together  civic  forces  to  accomplish  the 
purpose  —  a  purpose  which  is  educational,  social, 
recreational,  and  useful. 

Dealing  with  boys  under  fifteen,  as  the  average 
manual-training  teacher  will,  it  is  possible  for  him 
to  develop  a  type  of  manual  arts  which  will  serve 


SUMMARIZED  PROGRAM  OF  ACTION     319 

to  create  or  arouse  a  set  of  industrial  interests 
helpful  to  the  boy  in  determining  his  life  career. 
With  every  temptation  to  a  pupil  to  leave  school, 
the  manual-training  teacher  will  now  have  an  un- 
usual opportunity  to  make  his  work  so  attractive 
and  economically  so  helpful  that  the  boy  may  see 
the  advantage  of  paying  no  attention  to  industrial- 
service  inducements. 

This  is  a  time  for  increasing  the  field  of  useful- 
ness of  the  industrial  arts  in  connection  with  the 
problems  involved  in  the  junior  high  school.  This 
type  of  school  is  certain  to  meet  with  increased 
favor  during  and  after  the  war,  and  the  reasons  are 
both  educational  and  administrative. 

So  much  has  already  been  said  in  several  places 
in  this  book  about  the  service  which  cooking  and 
sewing  teachers  may  render,  that  it  is  hardly 
necessary  in  this  place  to  do  more  than  give  a 
very  brief  summary.  As  supplies  for  cooking  les- 
sons become  more  expensive,  the  cooking  teacher 
must  make  more  of  demonstrations  to  pupils,  and 
less,  perhaps,  of  actual  practice.  The  war  recipes 
which  she  uses  must  be  mimeographed  or  printed 
and  given  the  pupils  to  take  home.  She  must  or- 
ganize classes  for  adults  in  unit  courses  and  hold 
them  afternoons  and  evenings.  In  fact,  she  might 
well    have   the   mothers   come   with   the   children 


320  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

during  the  regular  session  and  receive  some  special 
instructions  which  the  children  receive.  She  will  be 
busy  the  year  round ;  her  larger  work  will  begin 
when  the  schools  close,  in  that  she  will  start  her 
canning  and  community-club  work.  A  situation 
can  easily  be  conceived  wherein  she  will  have  in 
reality  very  little  teaching  responsibility  in  the 
classroom.  She  will  be  looked  upon  as  the  com- 
munity organizer  for  all  types  of  food  conserva- 
tion, and  some  of  her  older  girls  will,  in  all  proba- 
bility, be  teaching  in  the  regular  classes.  Of 
course,  she  will  interest  all  the  children  in  the 
school  in  saving  bottles,  jars,  crocks,  large-mouthed 
bottles,  tumblers,  small  wooden  pails,  etc.  for  con- 
tainers for  the  jams,  preserves,  and  fruit  juices 
which  will  be  put  up.  She  will  obtain  all  the  new 
bulletins  on  processes  of  drying  and  dehydrating. 
Perhaps  she  may  have  initiative  enough  to  dis- 
cover a  fruit  crop  which  will  not  be  picked  except 
through  her  efforts.  Perhaps  she  will  find  an 
orphan  asylum  in  the  community  filled  with  boys 
and  girls  who  can  pick  this  fruit  crop. 

The  sewing  teacher  has  more  than  enough  to 
do.  If  the  Red  Cross  chapter  does  not  keep  her 
busy,  then  she  can  keep  the  chapter  active.  With 
the  price  of  materials  as  high  as  it  is  now  and 
the  quality,  as  poor,  there  is.  plenty  of  opportunity 


SUMMARIZED  PROGRAM  OF  ACTION     321 

to  look  over,  in  every  home,  the  last  year's  ward- 
robe. She  might  organize  a  Thrift  Club.  Enthusi- 
astic youth  will  do  almost  anything  under  the 
name  of  "club." 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  every  girl  in  the  school 
above  the  age  of  ten  will  enroll  in  the  sewing 
class  and  not  sit  idly  by  while  a  few  do  all  the 
work.  Very  likely  the  household-arts  teacher  will 
organize  a  home-cadet  unit,  just  as  the  boys 
will  be  organized  into  farm-cadet  units.  The 
girls  will  have  their  pledge  of  loyalty  and  per- 
haps will  wear  their  chevrons,  badges,  or  buttons, 
and  will  enroll  for  specific  work  in  food,  clothing, 
or  shelter  projects. 

The  agricultural  teacher  will  have  more  than  he 
can  do.  An  effective  teacher  in  normal  periods  is 
always  busy  with  his  supervision  of  home-project 
work,  preparation  of  material  for  classroom  teach- 
ing, gathering  of  laboratory  exhibits,  etc.  But  in 
war  time  he  must  carry  on  his  shoulders  still  larger 
burdens.  In  the  early  spring  he  will  discontinue 
his  formal  agricultural  teaching  to  the  special  voca- 
tional group  and  broaden  his  work  to  include  those 
who  have  not  regularly  enrolled  in  the  agricultural 
course.  To  the  latter  he  will  give  some  very  definite 
suggestions  for  immediate  use  on  the  farm ;  while 
the  boys  who  have  been  with  him  all  winter  will 


322  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

be  excused  from  school  to  give  their  entire  time  to 
their  home  projects.  To  those  who  have  recently 
come  into  the  class  there  will  be  given  special  work 
in  the  classroom  which  they  may  practice  outside 
of  school  hours  and  which  they  can  follow  for  full 
time  during  the  summer. 

He  will  have  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  farm- 
cadet  idea,  and  in  the  winter  he  will  doubtless  be 
thinking  of  the  type  of  camp  which  he  will  es- 
tablish or  with  which  he  will  be  connected.  He 
may  decide  that  he  can  do  best  by  organizing  a 
labor-distributing  camp  on  his  own  initiative,  or 
that  he  will  serve  as  an  assistant  at  the  state- 
farm  training  camp,  or  that  he  will  take  his  boys, 
if  they  are  village  boys,  to  the  outskirts  of  the 
village  and  establish  a  cooperative  camp;  or  he 
may  get  in  touch  with  the  teacher  of  biology  in 
a  city  school  and  offer  the  country  schoolhouse 
and  his  services  for  a  training  camp  made  up  of 
city  boys.  It  is  assumed  that  he  is  in  close  touch 
with  the  county  farm  agent;  perhaps  he  is  the 
local  representative  of  the  club  work  which  the 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  is  pro- 
moting; and,  of  course,  he  is  taking  the  responsi- 
bility of  acting  as  agent  in  his  territory  for  the 
United  States  Boys'  Working  Reserve,  —  a  really 
wonderful  organization  full  of  immense  possibilities. 


SUMMARIZED  PROGRAM  OF  ACTION     323 

This  Boys'  Working  Reserve  movement  started 
under  the  auspices  of  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Labor  in  cooperation  with  the  Council  of 
National  Defense,  for  the  purpose  of  mobilizing 
young  men  between  the  ages  of  16  and  21  for 
productive  labor  in  the  war  emergency. 

During  the  summer  of  19 17  the  Reserve  confined 
its  activities  principally  to  giving  federal  recognition 
to  those  youths  who,  as  members  of  state  organiza- 
tions, had  worked  at  least  three  weeks  on  farms  or 
in  food  production.  At  present  it  is  organized  in 
40  states  and  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  Recently 
it  has  extended  its  activities  to  include  industrial 
occupations.  Each  boy  who  is  physically  fit  and 
who,  with  the  consent  of  his  parents,  has  taken  the 
oath  of  service,  is  enrolled  as  a  recruit  and  given 
an  enrollment  button  and  a  certificate  bearing  the 
great  seal  of  the  United  States.  When  he  has 
worked  faithfully  and  capably  for  the  stated  period, 
he  is  awarded  a  federal  bronze  badge  of  honor. 

After  January  i,  19 18,  thirty-six  days  of  eight 
hours  each  are  to  be  required  on  the  farm  or  in  food 
production  in  order  to  earn  the  badge.  In  industrial 
occupations  the  boy  will  be  required  to  work  at 
least  sixty  days  of  eight  hours  in  some  occupation 
considered  essential  in  helping  the  nation  in  the 
conduct  of  the  war,  in  order  to  receive  recognition. 


324  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

The  national  director,  Mr.  William  E.  Hall,  en- 
courages every  boy  to  remain  in  school  and  in  spare 
time  to  pursue  some  vocational  training  to  make 
himself  capable  of  performing  a  productive  war 
service,  in  the  expectation  that  he  will  be  awarded 
a  badge  of  honor  when  he  has  actually  entered  an 
essential  occupation.  It  is  expected  that  we  shall 
soon  see  a  registered  army  of  young  men  ordi- 
narily not  available,  which  may  be  used  to  fill  the 
gaps  in  the  labor  ranks  caused  by  war  activities. 

The  Reserve  has  been  indorsed  by  President 
Wilson  in  the  following  language : 

Permit  me  to  express  my  great  appreciation  of  the  work 
undertaken  by  the  United  States  Boys'  Working  Reserve  of 
the  Employment  Service  of  Department  of  Labor.  To  give 
to  the  young  men  between  the  ages  of  1 6  and  2 1  the  privi- 
lege of  spending  their  spare  time  in  productive  enterprise 
without  interrupting  their  studies  at  school,  while  their  older 
brothers  are  battling  in  the  trenches  and  on  the  seas,  must 
greatly  increase  the  means  of  providing  for  the  forces  at 
the  front  and  the  maintenance  of  those  whose  services  are 
needed  here.  It  is  a  high  privilege,  no  less  than  a  patriotic 
duty,  to  help  support  the  nation  by  devoted  and  intelligent 
work  in  this  great  crisis. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  in  writing  of  the  good  work 
which  the  Reserve  is  doing,  says,  in  part: 

I  am  glad  that  you  intend  to  encourage  the  training  of 
the  boys  to  prepare  for  some  essential  industry  where  they 


SUMMARIZED  PROGRAM  OF  ACTION     325 

can  take  the  place  of  a  man  called  to  the  front.  One  of  the 
great  benefits  you  confer  is  that  of  making  the  boy  realize 
that  he  is  part  of  Uncle  Sam's  team  ;  that  he  is  doing  his 
share  in  this  great  war ;  that  he  holds  his  services  in  trust 
for  the  nation  ;  and  that  though  it  is  proper  to  consider  the 
question  of  material  gain  and  the  question  of  his  own  desires, 
yet  that  what  he  must  most  strongly  consider  at  this  time 
is  where  his  services  will  do  most  good  to  our  people  as 
a  whole. 

The  teachers  of  America,  as  well  as  the  boys,  are 
making  themselves  a  part  of  Uncle  Sam's  team; 
and  they  too  hold  their  services  in  trust  for  the 
nation.  The  Junior  Red  Cross  movement  in  the 
schools  has  swept  the  country.  The  school  children 
have  advertised  and  sold  bonds  of  the  second  Liberty 
Loan.^  The  teachers  of  cooking  are  serving  as  local 
representatives  for  the  food  administrator  at  Wash- 
ington. Agricultural  teachers  have  pledged  them- 
selves as  community  workers  for  the  summer  of 
1918.  Manual-training  teachers  are  developing  plans 
for  substituting  garden  projects  in  the  spring  for 
the  manual-training  models  of  the  schoolroom. 
Technical  colleges  and  institutes  are  filled  with 
students  in  uniform.  Industrial  and  trade  schools 
on  the  seacoast  are  planning  to  discard  their  house 

^  In  New  York  City  63,900  applications  for  bonds,  having  a  total  value 
of  $7,881,100,  were  obtained  directly  by  principals,  teachers,  and  pupils, 
and  forwarded  by  the  principals  to  the  local  Bond  committee  or  the  banks. 


326  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

carpentry  for  shipbuilding  courses.  County  super- 
intendents of  schools  are  studying  government  bul- 
letins for  the  last  word  in  preserving  and  drying 
farm  products  on  a  large  scale,  in  order  that  they 
may  give  directions  to  the  schools.  Teachers  in 
academic  schools  have  enlisted  for  service  on  relief, 
loan,  garden,  thrift,  and  conservation  committees. 
Men  who  were  leaders  and  supervisors  of  farm- 
cadet  camps  in  191 7  are  planning  for  similar  work 
in  the  future  on  a  larger  and  improved  basis.  Pro- 
grams for  teachers'  institutes  and  state  associations 
of  teachers  now  include  the  topics :  "  What  can  our 
schools  do  in  war  time  ? "  and  "  Our  schools  after 
the  war." 

These  efforts  of  the  teachers  and  the  pupils  re- 
spond to  our  President's  appeal  that  each  of  us 
must  do  his  share  in  making  the  world  safe  for 
democracy. 

At  present,  to  be  sure,  we  center  our  thoughts 
on  how  to  make  the  world  safe  for  democracy.  But 
what  of  the  future  ?  What  of  the  contribution  of 
the  schools  after  the  war?  Should  not  the  schools 
then  center  their  aims  and  methods  on  making 
democracy  safe  for  the  world  1  If  the  people  them- 
selves are  to  be  masters,  must  they  not  be  provided 
with  an  education  making  for  mastership?  Is  it 
not  well  for  us  to  examine  our  present  schools  to 


SUMMARIZED  PROGRAM  OF  ACTION     327 

determine  whether  they  are  making  a  democracy 
which  will  be  safe  for  the  world  ?  Have  we  a  system 
of  education  which  actually  gives  an  opportunity  for 
every  child  to  make  the  most  of  himself?  Have  we 
a  liberalized  course  of  study  which  actually  stimu- 
lates and  develops  intellectual  and  aesthetic  interests 
in  music,  art,  literature,  science,  travel,  and  history  ? 
Have  we  evolved  a  socialized  education  developing 
moral  habits,  civic  incentives,  possession  and  use  of 
ethical  ideals  and  standards  for  a  successful  group 
life  ?  Has  our  formative  process  been  able  to  bring 
about  refinements  of  social  behavior  beyond  the 
point  required  for  group  participation?  Have  we 
arrived  at  the  point  where  we  can  say  that  our 
people  have  even  the  common  culture  which  it  is 
expected  all  members  of  a  democracy  shall  possess, 
to  say  nothing  about  the  development  of  individual 
culture,  which  is  a  possession  of  the  interested  in- 
dividual and  his  congenial  fellows?  How  far  have 
we  gone  in  recognizing  that  "  by-education  "  which 
comes  through  a  child's  self-direction  of  his  natural 
or  spontaneous  learning  instincts  and  impulses  ? 

How  much  have  we  accomplished  in  giving  edu- 
cational and  vocational  guidance  to  children  be- 
tween the  ages  of  12  and  16?  What  has  been 
done  in  the  way  of  fulfilling  the  national  obligation 
to  teach  the  strangers  within  our  gates  our  language 


328  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

and  the  principles  and  forms  of  our  civic  life  ?  What 
has  been  our  program  for  subnormals  in  order  that 
they  may  be  prepared  for  independent  living  in 
the  competitive  social  order?  Have  we  established 
clear-cut  distinctions  between  subnormal  and  crippled 
cases  that  must  remain  custodial  and  those  that  can 
be  prepared  for  independent  existence  ?  What  are 
we  doing  in  the  way  of  education  for  delinquents? 
To  what  extent  have  we  utilized  the  discovery  that 
these  antisocial  manifestations  of  youth  are  results 
of  heredity,  or  of  inferior  homes,  or  of  a  lack  of 
playgrounds,  or  of  poor  schools? 

Have  the  schools  missed  a  great  opportunity  for 
giving  moral,  civic,  and  physical  training  to  youth 
by  failing  to  absorb  the  Boy  Scout  and  Camp  Fire 
Girl  movements  and  thus  failing  to  grasp  the  full 
educational  significance  of  the  methods  adopted  by 
those  who  so  well  understand  adolescent  youth? 
Are  the  disciplinary  methods  of  the  teachers  and 
the  general  internal  management  of  the  schools  such 
as  will  develop  among  pupils  a  democracy  which  is 
safe  even  in  the  schoolroom  ?  What  have  we  done 
in  determining  what  is  desirable  and  feasible  for 
extending  general  education  to  average  adults  who 
have  early  entered  upon  specialized  occupations  ? 

How  far  have  we  gone  in  our  program  of  voca- 
tional   education   to  recognize  and   to  provide   for 


SUMMARIZED  PROGRAM  OF  ACTION     329 

the  influence  of  automatic  machinery  upon  the 
physical,  mental,  and  vocational  welfare  of  workers? 
Have  we  so  thoroughly  grasped  the  idea  of  an  edu- 
cational democracy  that  no  child  in  our  schools  is 
disadvantaged  by  the  section  of  the  state  or  of  the 
country  in  which  he  happens  to  be  born  ? 

Have  we  in  our  vocational  training  set  up  any 
program  for  the  industrial  training  of  women  which 
recognizes  that  the  modern  problem  of  women's 
work  concerns  the  following  of  some  productive 
vocation  away  from  home  ?  Have  we  even  begun 
to  realize  that  every  person  should  have  definite 
vocational  training  with  such  distinctive  purpose 
back  of  it  that  it  will  produce  the  skill,  knowl- 
edge, ideals,  and  general  experience  that  function 
in  distinct  callings  ? 

Have  we  even  thought  of  a  program  of  education 
for  leisure  which  will  develop  enduring  tastes  and 
interests  established  toward  the  enrichment  of  the 
individual  and  indirectly  of  social  life  ?  Do  we  fully 
understand  that  to  make  democracy  safe  for  the 
world  all  people  should  have  some  leisure  or  time 
apart  from  vocational,  civic,  and  physical  necessities 
of  life,  tliat  such  leisure  should  be  filled  with  socia- 
bility, amusement,  recreation,  and  satisfaction  of  the 
aesthetic  and  physical  desires,  and  that  the  public 
schools  must  in  some  measure  provide  for  these? 


330  OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 

Will  a  democracy  proclaiming  equality  of  oppor- 
tunity as  its  ideal  require  an  education  which 
unites  from  the  beginning  of  the  child's  school 
life,  and  for  all  pupils  of  the  school,  learning  and 
social  application,  ideas  and  practice,  work  and 
recognition  of  the  meaning  of  what  is  done  ?  Or 
can  a  democracy  be  developed  by  dividing  the 
public-school  system  into  parts,  one  of  which  pur- 
sues traditional  methods  with  incidental  improve- 
ments, and  another  in  which  children  "  learn 
through  their  hands "  and  are  given  only  the 
"  essential  features  "  of  the  traditional  bookwork  ? 

All  that  the  schools  are  now  doing  in  war  time, 
and  much  more  which  they  are  not  yet  doing,  to 
make  the  world  safe  for  democracy,  may  be  effec- 
tively used  after  war  time  to  make  democracy  safe 
for  the  world. 


INDEX 


Agricultural  education,  establish- 
ment of,  in  city  schools,  156,  314; 
home-project  work,  321  ;  relation 
of,  to  farm-cadet  service,  322 

Agricultural  labor,  resolutions  of 
New  York  State  Board  of  Regents 
in  regard  to,  95 ;  shortage  of,  136 ; 
farm-garden  permits  for,  1 59  ;  re- 
lease of  schoolboys  for,  161-163; 
justification  for  employment  of 
boys  for,  164;  German  women 
and  children  in,  236,  242,  243 ; 
English  children  in  farm  work, 
236-240;  organizing  boys  for,  246- 
256;  example  of  distribution  of, 
255-256;  social  significance  of 
boys  in,  270-271 ;  age  distinctions 
of  boys,  274 ;  types  of  farm  em- 
ployers, 280-282 

Attendance  laws,  abrogating  of,  in 
England,  135 ;  types  of  action  pos- 
sible in  regard  to,  138-139;  action 
of  various  states  in  regard  to,  140- 
143;  lessons  to  be  learned  from 
England,  144-146;  modification 
of,  155;  changes  in  New  York 
State,  157-159;  enlistment  for 
farm  service  in  New  York  State 
and  relation  to,  1 60-161;  relaxing, 
for  agricultural  work,  237-239; 
constructive  policy  in  amending, 

309 
Aviation  schools,  98 


Blind,  the,  reeducating,  211-213,215 
Boy  Scouts,  87,  130,  140,  172,  306, 
309.  328 

Camp  Fire  Girls,  328 

Canada,  convalescent  homes  for  dis- 
abled soldiers  in,  215;  work  of 
Military  Hospitals  Commission  in, 
228-231;  boys  for  farm  work  in, 
247 

Census,  agricultural,  by  schools  of 
New  York  State,  24,  277  ;  school 
principal  may  direct,  312 

Claxton,  P.  P.,  92,  146-150 

Colleges,  continuance  of,  during  war 
time,  80-83, 92  ;  spirit  of  mobiliza- 
tion of,  83-86;  war-emergency 
courses  in,  86-90,  96-103 ;  main- 
tenance of  academic  status  of,  91, 
93-94  ;  field  of  service  for  depart- 
ments of  psychology  in,  101-103  ; 
contribution  of  geological  depart- 
ments of,  105 ;  effect  of  war  on 
curricula  of,  1 1 1 ;  demand  for 
graduates  of,  147-148 

Commercial  schools,  indefiniteness 
of  aim  in,  316-317  ;  short-unit  and 
part-time  courses  in,  317 

Community  canning  clubs.  See  Con- 
servation of  food 

Conservation  of  food,  need  of,  25- 
28  ;  saving  of  waste  in  New  York 
City,   29-31  ;    Columbia   lectures 


33 « 


332 


OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 


on,  87-88;  canning  clubs,  125- 
127,  320 ;  drying  and  evaporating, 
126-127,320;  county  superintend- 
ents' duties,  326 

Continuation  schools,  enacting  of 
laws  for,  155 

Council  for  National  Defense,  94, 96, 

315 
Cripples,  reeducating  the,  211-233 

Democracy,  teaching  of,  149-150; 
making  safe  for  the  world,  326 ; 
leisure  necessary  for,  329 

Disabled  soldiers,  reeducating  the, 
211-233 

Domestic  arts,  new  spirit  of  teach- 
ing, 118;  criticism  of  existing 
teaching  of,  192;  improvements  in 
teaching,  1 93-1 94 ;  Thrift  Club,  32 1 

Domestic  science,  new  spirit  of 
teaching,  119;  teaching  adults, 
122,  319:  traveling  kitchens,  124; 
demonstration  train,  1 24 ;  war 
recipes,  319;  home  cadets,  321 

Education,  effectof  war  on,  113-1 14; 
equal  opportunity  for,  327 ;  social- 
ized, 327 ;  vocational  guidance  in, 
327  ;  for  subnormals  and  cripples, 
328.  See  also  Colleges,  Commer- 
cial Schools,  Schools,  etc. 

Employment  of  children,  care  exer- 
cised in,  146 ;  out  of  school  hours, 
149;  divergent  points  of  view  in 
regard  to,  1 50-1 51;  recognizing 
work  impulses  in,  1 51-152  ;  occu- 
pational study  of  a  group  of  boys, 
186-190;  "blind-alley  occupa- 
tions," 190-191  ;  waste  of  boy 
power,  191 


England's  schools,  use  of  buildings 
in  war,  18-20;  as  distributing 
agencies  for  information,  23-24 ; 
compiling  of  National  Register  by, 
24;  open  days  for  parents,  28; 
traveling  kitchens  in,  29,  124; 
thrift  teaching  in,  31-32  ;  training 
semiskilled  workers  in,  59-60,  66, 
75-76;  productive  work  of  tech- 
nical schools,  60-61  ;  courses  in 
cantonments,  101-102 ;  garden 
work  as  substitute  for  manual  train- 
ing in,  121-122  ;  short  courses  in 
cookery  in,  123;  training  cooks 
for  army,  128;  furnishing  meals 
to  children  in,  129;  furnishing 
soldiers'  kits  and  hospital  equip- 
ment, 132-134;  abrogating  attend- 
ance laws,  135,  137-138;  restrict- 
ing labor  of  school  children,  144- 
146;  children  for  farm  work, 
236-240 ;  plans  for  supervision 
of  schoolboy  farm  labor,  240- 
242  ;    reorganization  of,  304 

Evening  schools,  trade-extension 
work  in,  72  ;  training  of  foremen 
in,  316 

Farm  cadets,  organization  of,  in 
New  York  State,  172;  reason 
for  organizing,  234-245  ;  plan  for 
use  of,  246,  272-274 ;  rearrange- 
ment of  school  program  for,  247- 
248,  313-314  ;  wages  of,  249,  250, 
253,  261,  262,  265,  267,  278  ;  agree- 
ments and  contracts,  251-252, 
279-280,  282-287;  New  York 
State  plan,  253-254;  physical 
examination,  264,  274-275;  en- 
listment blanks,  276 


INDEX 


333 


Farm-labor  camps,  explanation  of, 
245;  Massachusetts  plan,  248-253; 
agreements  and  contracts,  251- 
252,265;  illustration  of  different 
types  of,  256-261 ;  food  cost  and 
preparation,  258,  295-297 ;  menus, 
259 ;  recreation,  260,  297 ;  wages, 
261,  262,  265,  267-269;  labor 
distribution,  261-262,  266-268; 
personal  equipment,  262,  292 ; 
camp  equipment,  262,  264,  268 ; 
illustration  of  training  type,  263- 
266;  agricultural  instruction  in, 
267,  297-299 ;  flying-squadron 
type,  267-268,  302-303;  leader- 
ship, 273,  287-292 ;  sanitation, 
295  ;  definitions  of  various  types, 
298-303 

Federal  Board  of  Vocational  Edu- 
cation, 54-55'  314-315 

France,  reeducation  of  disabled 
soldiers  in,  214-225 

French  schools,  use  of  buildings  in 
war,  20-21 ;  war  financing  helped 
by  teachers  of,  39-40;  teaching 
the  meaning  of  the  war  in,  41, 
44-46 ;  changing  aspects  of,  due 
to  war,  41,  51-52 ;  sewing  for 
soldiers  in,  133;  part-time,  155; 
normal  schools'  contribution  to 
war  service,  199 ;  Red  Cross 
work,  208 

German  schools,  efficiency  spirit  of, 
17,  104;  contribution  to  agricul- 
tural labor,  242-243 ;  conservation 
of  natural  resources  in,  243-244 ; 
industrial-efficiency  idea  in,  305 

History,  teaching  of,  46-47 


Industrial  and  trade  schools,  contri- 
bution of,  to  manufacturing  needs, 
60 ;  war-emergency  courses  in, 
63,  314-315;  question  of  produc- 
tion in,  66-67  !  readjustment  in 
war  time,  7 1 ;  open  in  summer, 
72-73;  part-time  classes  in,  74- 
76 ;  teaching  of  hygiene  in,  77  ; 
producing  farm-camp  equipment, 
252 ;  inventories  of  equipment, 
315;  state  study  of  possible  war 
uses  of,  315 

Junior  Red  Cross,  207,  209-210 

Labor,  war  demands  for,  58  ;  indus- 
trial schools  meeting  shortage  of, 
61,  68-69;  one  method  of  train- 
ing,  61-64;    educative   value   of, 

152-153 
Liberty  Loan  bonds,  and  the  schools, 

37-39»3".325 
Library,  service  of,  in  war  time,  104- 
105 

Manual  training,  garden  work  in 
place  of,  1 30-13 1  ;  war-service 
work  in,  131-132,  317-319;  mak- 
ing Red  Cross  splints,  206,  317; 
abandoning  models,  318;  in  con- 
nection with  junior  high  schools, 

319 
Military  equivalents,  recognition  of, 
in  New  York  State,  171,  305; 
experience  in  England,  France, 
and  Germany,  173;  necessity  of 
conscious  service,  174,  177-180; 
types  of  occupations  having, 
175-176;  "Moral  Equivalent  of 
War,"    176;    an   example   of,   in 


334 


OUR  SCHOOLS  IN  WAR  TIME 


agriculture,  1 81-185;  an  example 
of,  in  industry,  186-189;  farm 
labor  as  a  military  equivalent,  254 

Military  training,  exemptions  from, 
165,  167 ;  compulsory  in  New 
York  State,  166;  in  high  schools, 
167-170;  including  employed 
boys,  168,  170-171;  vocational 
training  in  relation  to,  173 ;  adap- 
tability of,  309 

"  Moral  Equivalent  of  War,"  176 

National  Board  for  Historical  Serv- 
ice, 46 
National   Council   of  Defense,  94, 

96,315 
National   Security   League,   49-50, 

140 
National  Society  for  the  Promotion 

of  Industrial  Education,  64 
Naval  schools,  description  of,  77-79 

Off-time  classes,  importance  of,  72 

Part-time  education,  opportunity  for, 
74-75 ;  war-emergency  courses  in, 
154-155;  enacting  laws  for,  155; 
farm  work  and,  240 ;  as  an  econ- 
omy measure,  308-309 

Patriotism,  teaching  meaning  of  the 
war,  42 ;  necessity  for  teaching, 
42-44,  48-49 ;  topics  in  relation 
to,  50-51 

Physical  training,  compulsory  in 
New  York  State,  166;  recom- 
mendations of  New  Jersey  Com- 
mission in  regard  to,  167-170; 
importance  of,  from  military 
standpoint,  168-169;  advantages 
of,  over  military  training,  309 


Posters,  war,  129-130 

Practical  arts,  definition  of,  116;  proj- 
ect plan  of  teaching,  117-118;  in- 
fluence ofwar-serviceworkon,  117 

Principal,  war  duties  of,  33-34, 
310-314 

Red  Cross,  work  for,  in  schools, 
194,  196-198,  311;  a  state  plan 
of  school  service,  to,  200-201  ; 
use  of  knitting  machines,  202; 
work  for,  in  Troy,  N.Y.,  202- 
205  ;  making  splints,  206 ;  Home 
Service  division  of,  207-208 ; 
Junior  Red  Cross,  207,  209-210; 
what  can  be  done  in  schools  for, 
207  ;  reporting  home  conditions 
to,  308 

Reeducation,  the  problem  of  the 
physically  handicapped,  211-213 ; 
relation  to  federal  insurance,  213; 
a  government  problem,  214;  in- 
struction for  the  blind  in  France, 
215;  L'ficole  Joffre,  216-219; 
instruction  in  vocational  sub- 
jects in  France  218-221,  224- 
225 ;  percentage  capable  of,  in 
France,  222 ;  the  problem  in  the 
United  States,  225-228;  indus- 
trial accidents  and,  232 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  11,  324-325 

Rural  schools,  agricultural  labor 
under  direction  of,  153-154;  camp 
in  connection  with,  302 

School  boards,  in  relation  to  war 
service,  306-307 ;  provisions  of, 
for  drafted  teachers,  307-308 ; 
organization  of  vocational  courses 
by.  310;  planning  for  agriculture 


INDEX 


335 


by,  310;  work  of,  for  avoiding 
juvenile  delinquency,  310 
School  principals,  33-34,  310-314 
Schools,  as  distributing  centers  for 
pamphlets,  etc.,  22,  311  ;  furnish- 
ing lunches  to  children  in,  128- 
129,  308;  opportunity  for  poster 
work  in,  129-130;  maintaining 
efficiency  of,  146;  keeping  chil- 
dren in,  147,  308;  postponement 
of  construction  work  for,  149; 
agricultural  activities  in  rural,  153 ; 
lengthening  terms  and  hours  of, 
308.  See  also  Commercial  schools, 
French  schools,  etc. 
Smith-Hughes  Bill,  54,  57 

Teachers,  work  of,  in  promoting 
French  government  loans,  39-40 ; 
opportunities  of,  to  teach  history, 
46-49 ;  New  York  State  direc- 
tions to,  119-121;  service  of,  on 
committees,  326;  war-service  pro- 
grams of,  326 

Technical  institutes :  war-service 
courses  in  Wentworth  Institute, 
Boston,  106-107  ;  Pratt  Institute, 
Brooklyn,  107-108;  Dunwoody 
Institute,  Minneapolis,  108-111 


Thrift,  necessity  for,  31-33;  prac- 
tice of,  in  England,  31-32,  36-37  ; 
teaching  of,  35;  campaign  for, 
311 ;  Thrift  Club,  321 

Trade  schools.  See  Industrial  and 
trade  schools 

Traveling  kitchens,  29,  124 

Unit  courses,  organization  of,  73- 
74;  utility  of,  306 

United  States  Boys'  Working  Re- 
serve, 163-164,  322-324 

Vocational  education,  definition  of, 
53 ;  federal  grants  for,  54-55 ; 
federal  requirements  of,  56 ;  ad- 
justment of,  to  industrial  needs, 
59 ;  standardization  of  products, 
195;  "  safety-first "  instruction  in, 
212  ;  opportunity  for  teachers  in, 
233  ;  influence  of  automatic  ma- 
chinery on,  329 ;  for  distinct  call- 
ings, 329 

War  Savings  certificates,  in  Eng- 
land, 36-37 ;  in  the  United  States, 

3" 
Wilson,  Woodrow,  i,  54,  72-73,  81- 
82,  209,  324 


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OCCUPATIONS 

By  Enoch  Burton  Gowin,  New  York  University,  and  William  Alonzo  Wheat- 
ley,  Superintendent  of  Schools,  Middletown,  Conn.    357  pages,  illustrated,  $1.20. 

This  is  a  textbook  for  the  student's  own  use,  planned  to  cover  both 
vocational  guidance  and  vocational  information,  with  the  emphasis 
strongly  upon  the  latter.  Part  I  sets  forth  the  importance  of  vocational 
preparation;  Part  II  is  a  survey  of  various  occupations;  and  Part  III 
shows  the  student  how  to  apply  the  knowledge  gained  in  Parts  I  and  II. 
Besides  being  intrinsically  interesting  the  book  is  well  organized  for 
class  use. 


GINN  AND  COMPANY  Publishers 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  AT  LOS  ANGELES 
THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


241968 


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